


blessings wait

by seenstealers



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Falling In Love, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, School Dances, Slow Burn, Slytherin hyunjin, Swearing, Tutoring, Underage Drinking, a lot of just stray kids hanging out with lots of bants, minsung sort of happens, my sorting is impeccable, other idols are students and professors, ravenclaw seungmin, seungsung are best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-06-10 03:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15282258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seenstealers/pseuds/seenstealers
Summary: Ravenclaw Seungmin and Slytherin Hyunjin have been in the same friend group for years, but are essentially strangers.Their sixth year was expected to consist of trips to Hogsmeade, Quidditch matches, and late night conversations with the other boys. Falling in love during tutoring sessions was not part of the plan, but plans never quite go as expected.The problem is, they're both utterly clueless.





	1. Chapter 1

Seungmin wasn’t sure if it was because of the rhythmic chugging of the train or the muffled chatter bouncing around the car, but a few hours into the journey he had fallen asleep with his forehead pressed against the cool rumbling window, rushing past the lush countryside.

\- 

“Seungmin! Dude, wake up. We’re almost there.”

Jisung’s eager voice stirred Seungmin awake, as well as the feeling of a hand, probably Jeongin’s, tousling his already-messy hair. Gingerly, he half-opened his eyes and let out a groan at the bright light streaming through the window, which momentarily blinded him. Yawning, he attempted to sit up and realized he was trapped under a soft yellow fabric. Jeongin must’ve covered Seungmin when he fell asleep using the hoodie he had been wearing earlier in the morning. Just as Seungmin was about to thank his friend for the kind gesture, something hit him squarely in the forehead, and he looked down to see an empty box of chocolate frogs tumble to the ground.

Seungmin shot a look across their compartment to meet eyes with Jisung, who was sat with a smug look on his face. “I had to be sure you were up,” Jisung said with a playful smirk. Seungmin reached down to grab the small purple box and hurdled it straight back at Jisung, which the older boy just managed to dodge by shifting quickly to the unoccupied seat on his left. “I was already awake,” Seungmin said in feigned exasperation, which made Jisung giggle as he slid back to his seat, brushing aside his dark brown bangs. “Wait, chocolate frogs? Shit, did I miss the snack cart? Also thanks for this Jeongin, you didn’t have to,” Seungmin rambled as he messily folded Jeongin’s hoodie and handed it to the younger boy sat on his right. Jeongin took it with a small smile and gently pulled it over his head, careful not to knock off the pair of oversized round glasses he was wearing that Seungmin had actually gifted to him for his birthday the previous year.

“You looked cold,” Jeongin said shyly. “But yeah, the snack cart came by about two hours ago, but we didn’t want to wake you. I actually got you a box of those toffees you like, but Jisung is a snake and ate them. Sorry, I couldn’t stop him, you know how he is,” Jeongin laughed, exposing his light pink braces. Seungmin shot Jisung yet another look. “The school year hasn’t even started and you’re already pissing me off,” Seungmin snorted. Jisung made a show of trying to look unbothered by Seungmin’s joking statement by stretching his arms out and faking a yawn. “It’s my duty, as a Slytherin and as your friend, to keep you on your toes at all times,” he snickered, and Seungmin probably would’ve pushed him if they weren’t seated.

-

That morning, for the sixth year in a row, Seungmin had waited at King’s Cross Station and boarded the Hogwarts Express at 11 a.m. sharp. In typical Seungmin-fashion, he had gotten to Platform 9¾ far earlier than necessary, and was on his own until Jeongin and eventually Jisung met up with him after a few minutes of coordination through frantic texting in their group chat. The three of them had met at Hogwarts’ KSO (Korean Student Organization), which was a small cultural club for the few Korean witches and wizards who were studying abroad at Hogwarts. The school had only began accepting foreign students approximately a decade back, but there were already sizable national communities diversifying the halls.

Most of Seungmin’s non-Ravenclaw friendships had been made at KSO meetings, which were held once a fortnight near the kitchens and mostly consisted of munching on snacks, like the bungeoppang Jihyo was so good at baking, and conversations which for once were solely in Korean. While Seungmin spent a good amount of time with other Ravenclaws, like the long nights spent studying in the Ravenclaw common room alongside Renjun and Chenle, he found himself with Jisung and Jeongin, among others, during most of his free time.

Jisung was a Slytherin and a fellow sixth year, only two weeks older than Seungmin and horribly abused his barely-hyung card on a daily basis. Jisung was interested in divination, and although Seungmin had to admit that a few of Jisung’s predictions must’ve been more than just coincidence, he refused to allow Jisung to call himself a seer just yet. Jeongin was a spirited Hufflepuff fifth year, who was adorable and desperately wanted to become a magizoologist, and put more effort into care of magical creatures class than anyone else Seungmin could think of. The three of them spent weekends in Hogsmeade and breaks between classes in the courtyards, often with the others they’d met through the KSO. Seungmin couldn’t help but feel excited for school to be starting again. He loved his friends and was a star student, and he would’ve never had the opportunities he was offered at Hogwarts if he had stayed in Korea.

However, if Seungmin were honest, he was jealous of Jisung and Jeongin for having such clear-cut interests and paths. If someone were to ask Seungmin what he wanted to work as in the wizarding world, he would probably stutter out that he was working towards being a curse-breaker, the job his family had essentially tailored him to be, following his father’s footsteps. It was a cool job, Seungmin thought, working for wizard banks or ministries, traveling around the world to counter curses. It was a dangerous and prestigious profession, only accepting students graduating at the top of their class. It was undoubtably cool, but Seungmin wasn’t sure if it was for him. He liked astronomy more than anything, spending countless nights up at the tower, but careers in astronomy were dwindling in the modern age, and perhaps Seungmin’s greatest fear was wasting the potential his family and teachers saw in him. Seungmin was still figuring out himself and his future, but so far, life at Hogwarts had treated him well. He still had time.

-

When it was announced that they were five minutes away, the three boys pulled on their respective house robes and gathered their belongings, then watched as the steam engine pulled up to Hogsmeade station in the early evening light. They stepped off, leaving their baggage onboard to be transported separately, and shuffled past the floods of students exiting the vehicle to sit on one of the benches lining the station. It usually took a while to get to the castle from there. First, the gamekeeper had to assemble all the clueless first years to take them by boat across Black Lake, as is Hogwarts tradition.

The upper years were taken by carriage a little while later, but it took some time; Seungmin was familiar with the process by now. “Lets try to find the others,” Jisung suggested, already taking out his phone. Mere seconds later, Seungmin felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket, opening it to a message from Jisung sent to a group chat named ‘K-Boyz’, consisting of them three and six other guys from KSO.

 

Jisung:  
yo, im w minnie and jeongin on a bench near the stairs, where r u guys?

 

Seungmin cringed at his nickname for a second before more messages flooded in.

 

Chan:  
me and woojin hyung were sitting near the front so we’re at the other side, we’ll start walking towards u guys

Minho:  
me and felix are coming, hyunjin was with us but he’s going to find his cousin before grouping up w us. he said he’d b quick

 

“Hyunjin hyung’s cousin is here?” Jeongin inquired, not looking up from his phone as he monitored the conversation unfolding. Jisung nodded, “yep, her name’s Ryujin, she’s a first year. I guess we’ll see if the Slytherin Hwang family legacy will continue,” Jisung said with a nonchalant smile. Seungmin wasn’t very close with Hyunjin, but Jisung was in the same house and they spent a good amount of time together, so Seungmin wasn’t surprised that Jisung knew about Hyunjin’s family matters. In his peripheral, Seungmin saw Jeongin tap out a message. 

 

Jeongin:  
where’s changbin hyung?

Woojin:  
I haven’t seen him…

Felix:  
uh, neither have we

Minho:  
changbin where the fuck r u

Seungmin:  
lol maybe he missed the train

Jisung:  
lmao wouldn’t be surprised!!

Chan:  
binnie u better come online soon, ur being roasted

Changbin:  
shut the fuck up seungmin. jisung ur on thin ice. I was using the bathroom, chill y’all. I’ll find u guys.

Woojin:  
why does changbin use so many periods

Changbin:  
because im an INTELLECTUAL.

Jisung:  
lol sure

Changbin:  
I said THIN ICE JISUNG.

Felix:  
his single braincell is trying to prove itself

Changbin:  
what do u MEAN single braincell??? Im literally a fucking ravenclaw.

 

Seungmin couldn’t help but laugh. Memories of how much fun he’s had with these guys the past few years all came flooding back. Yep, he was definitely excited, but he’d never let anyone know that. Just as he slid his phone back into his pocket, a familiar voice sounded behind them. “Oh! Found them Chan,” Woojin’s warm voice wrapped around them, and they turned around to see the handsome ash blond seventh year standing by a lamppost, wearing golden lined robes and a yellow tie, and smiling brightly at them. Kim Woojin was essentially the epitome of what it meant to be a Hufflepuff, (prefect, star herbology student, and friends with possibly every member of the student body) with a side of unbreakable confidence.

Chan wasn’t far behind him, his crimson Gryffindor robes glistening as he made long strides towards them. Chan was also a seventh year, and had excitedly texted them all a month back that he was offered the position of Head Boy for the upcoming year. Seungmin didn’t know anyone better for the position if he were being honest, the Australian had leadership and capability flowing in his veins, and Seungmin would bet his family’s entire fortune that Chan would succeed in his lifelong aspiration of becoming an Auror.

The five began exchanging greetings, and Jeongin, who had been sitting between the two older boys, sprang to his feet first, speeding into Woojin and tackling him with a hug. Woojin was beaming, wrapping his sturdy arms around the skinnier boy, and then the two began excitedly conversing about their summers, Seungmin assumed. Despite them being two years apart, being housemates meant Jeongin and Woojin were close, and Woojin was much like a mentor to Jeongin, and Seungmin knew the younger aspired to follow in Woojin’s footsteps. “Do I not get a hug?” Chan said dramatically, to which both Jisung and Seungmin nonchalantly shrugged, leading to an exasperated sign from the Gryffindor. Seungmin got up and tried to give him just a quick hug, but Chan was not having it.

“Seungminnie! How was your summer? Did you get that job you wanted?” Chan bombarded Seungmin with questions while tightly enclosing him in a signature too-intense Chan hug, rocking him slightly. Seungmin just grinned, because he cant really be annoyed with Chan- nobody can be- and told him that his summer was boring but that yes, he was a Starbucks barista for two months. When at long last Chan set Seungmin free, he and Jisung greeted each other with an unnecessarily complicated secret handshake they created a few years back. Seungmin was about to chat with Woojin for a solid dose of normality when he was startled by a distant, deep, booming, “OI, MATE!”

Felix’s newly dyed blond hair stood out of the crowd, a decision he’d been pondering for a while but finally went through with the previous month, armed with a box of store-bought dye and a questionable blood alcohol level back home in Australia. His crimson tie flapped slightly in the evening breeze. Minho was on his left, and the seventh year Slytherin had his arm looped around Felix’s, his free hand pushing his light brown locks away from his eyes as he laughed at something Felix said to him as they approached the group. The two were known for their tactile friendship and their reputation alongside Hyunjin for pushing the limits of Hogwarts’ expulsion policies.

Chan whipped his head around towards the pair at the sound of the fellow Australian accent. Chan and Felix both grew up in Sydney, but only met each other when Felix started in Hogwarts in the same year as Seungmin, Jisung, and Hyunjin. “Felix!” Chan exclaimed, sounding more Australian than necessary. Felix untangled himself from Minho’s side and ran towards his fellow countryman, greeting him with a pretty gross ‘bro-hug’ and some ridiculously fast paced and accented English. Minho greeted everyone with his standard “hey bitches” and made sure to muss Jisung’s hair enough to make his Slytherin dongsaeng pout dramatically while desperately pawing at his bangs, trying to make them lay right again. Seungmin pretended not to notice how Minho’s eyes lit up when he looked at Jisung’s face.

Chan stepped back from the growing clump of people and his eyes darted from face to face, doing a headcount, as he often did at meetings, lunch, or when the nine of them went to Hogsmeade together- a leader’s habit. “Seven,” he announced, with the rest turning to meet his gaze. “We just need Changbin hyung and Hyunjin hyung,” Felix piped up. Coincidently, as if they knew they were being summoned, Seungmin saw Changbin and Hyunjin walk towards the group. Changbin was wearing robes lined with blue and bronze just like Seungmin, while Hyunjin’s were green and silver, colors that Seungmin admitted suited the handsome sixth year quite well. “We ran into each other when making our way over here,” Changbin explained as they approached the group. “Ryujin’s on the boat, she’s really excited,” Hyunjin added. The group greeted them as a chorus, exchanging high fives and hugs as dictated by the sort of friendships they had. Seungmin gave his fellow Ravenclaw a brief but genuine hug, with Changbin joking about Seungmin’s roast from the group chat earlier, to which Seungmin unapologetically laughed. He enjoyed Changbin’s company a lot, and he couldn’t wait for another year spent together trying to make history of magic an actually enjoyable class. Quidditch teammates Hyunjin and Minho fist bumped as they often did after Slytherin won a match, which was a frequent affair.

What Seungmin wasn’t prepared for was Hyunjin turning away from Minho, walking towards Seungmin, and pulling him into an oddly close and gentle hug. To be fair, the Slytherin had done the same with Jeongin, Chan, and Felix, but nonetheless it caught Seungmin off-guard. They hardly talked. It was short, and Hyunjin pulled away to flash Seungmin his signature mischievous grin and say hi, asking how his summer was. “It was boring, I worked at Starbucks for a while,” Seungmin echoed from what he had told everyone else, feeling unusually shy from the intense gaze Hyunjin’s eyes were for some reason boring into him. Hyunjin politely smiled and pretended to be interested, filling in the younger boy on his own summer job in return, making it sound like the most interesting thing on earth.

That’s Hwang Hyunjin for you. Interesting.

-

The carriage ride was predictable, but as enjoyable as always. Seungmin’s always loved the feeling of the open carriage moving through the cool evening air, his arm hanging out of the window, fingers playing with the wind. “Seven years, and I still haven’t gotten used to the weird invisible horses,” Woojin laughed gently with a hint of nostalgia, who was sitting on Seungmin’s right; it was the last time Woojin and the other seventh years would take this carriage on a cool September evening, heading towards the beautiful castle they’ve all called home for the better part of their teenage years. Seungmin had another year left, but he shared the Hufflepuff’s sentimentality. “Seven years…” Chan muttered, sat on Woojin’s right looking out of the opposite window.

“Stop acting like you’re middle aged or something, jeez,” Jisung groaned from the opposite side of the carriage. Woojin stuck his leg out to kick him gently in the shin, to which the younger boy dramatically responded with a whine. Next to him, Jeongin giggled. “You guys are all graduating soon, then you’ll have to figure out your lives for real. I still have three whole years left.” Jeongin said proudly. “Yeah, and a few O.W.L.S you need to study your ass off for,” Seungmin pointed out, cracking a smile at the wide-eyed Hufflepuff. “Don’t remind me, I haven’t even taken the defense against the dark arts exam yet, but I already know I’ve failed,” Jeongin moaned, throwing his head back against the seat. “Chan got full marks on his DADA O.W.L, I’ll force him to tutor you,” Woojin said, nudging his best friend. “No need to force me, you know I’d do anything to help my favorite dongsaeng,” Chan chuckled. Jisung set himself up to make some bitter comment about not being their hyung’s favorite before Jeongin shushed him. “Dude, let me have this one thing.”

-

The welcoming feast commenced as usual, as led by their headmistress. Students from each of the four houses spread across the corresponding tables in the great hall, watching as the terrified first years took turns putting the decrepit sorting hat on their heads to determine which house they’ll belong to for the next seven years. Seungmin sat next to Changbin around the middle of the Ravenclaw table. 10 minutes into the ceremony, Changbin leaned in and mentioned that Ryujin, Hyunjin’s cousin, was next up. Seungmin swiveled his head around to the line, and saw a girl with a jet black bob and an icy expression at the front. Definitely a relative of Hyunjin’s. Seungmin’s gaze flitted to the Slytherin table, which was right by theirs, where Hyunjin was sat across from Jisung and next to Minho, his arms crossed in anticipation.

A few minutes later, Ryujin was deemed a Slytherin, the green house whooping as they always did for new arrivals, their friends being no exception- the entire hall was familiar with Jisung’s voice after all these years. She was beaming, clearly proud. Seungmin remembered how the knots in his stomach didn’t disappear after the hat declared him a Ravenclaw (he had predicted he would be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor), and not even when a smiling Changbin congratulated him with a handshake, which was a Ravenclaw custom. Seungmin spotted Hyunjin hug Ryujin, grinning widely, his striking jet black hair swaying in front of his eyes.

“He looks proud”, Changbin said, snapping Seungmin back into reality. “The Hwang family legacy,” Seungmin concluded, Changbin nodding in response.

Seungmin had a hard time focusing on the food that night.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever fic published on here! This came about by me thinking about what Hogwarts houses I would sort Stray Kids into... and thus this was born. Seungjin are lowkey my favorite skz ship, so I couldn't resist centering this on them.
> 
> This chapter mainly serves as an introduction to the guys and exposition into their place in the Harry Potter universe. I have some solid ideas about the overall plot but we'll see what happens. Also just a note to say that the ages are not accurate to real life apart from the age order, so they're aged down a bit (Except for maybe 00 line).
> 
> Let me know if you see any mistakes <3
> 
> Come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	2. Chapter 2

Seungmin’s first trip to Hogsmeade was on a Saturday almost three weeks after school began. He was smushed between Jisung and Felix, squeezed into a booth that was definitely not designed to seat nine teenagers. Chan had been begging all week for the nine of them to get together that weekend, and had somehow managed to gather all of them in the only Korean-owned pub in the village, and possibly the entire region. Chan knew the family who ran it and was friends with their son, Jinyoung, who was now the bartender, when he had attended Hogwarts, graduating two years prior. Chan knowing Jinyoung meant that while the other Hogwarts students were drinking butterbeer in the three broomsticks, the nine of them (apart from Jeongin, who opted for lemonade usually) were drinking actual beer at the edge of town. They didn’t worry about being found out and punished by the school’s rather harsh alcohol policy- they were served with opaque glasses and conversed in Korean- so the boys often enjoyed a few rounds, making them feel a little warmer in the early autumnal air, and making them laugh a little harder.

Getting together and sharing moments like this meant a lot to them. Their muggle friends back in Korea got to enjoy times like this often; after all, getting together at night and drinking soju was a favorite Korean pastime. While the gang were only able to indulge in soju every once in a while when Chan convinced Jinyoung to slyly sneak them a few bottles of Jinro soju, Korean-brand beer typically did the trick in helping them keep some sort of a hold of their identities, and escape the sometimes overwhelming reality that they were foreigners in this country.

“Jinyoung Hyung!” Chan shouted to get Jinyoung’s attention. The handsome dark-haired man looked up from the counter and nodded at Chan’s gesturing that suggested he wanted another round for the table. Seungmin lifted his glass to his mouth, tipping it only to find that there was nothing left to chug down. He hadn’t even noticed he’d gone through his second one so quickly, and he felt a little embarrassed to see that Woojin, their resident beer enthusiast, had only indulged in a few gulps.

Seungmin was just stressed. He had a heavy schedule considering the relatively high number of N.E.W.T. classes he was taking, and he knew he was already pressuring himself too much so early in the year. He wasn’t as much of an introvert as some Ravenclaws were, but he obviously harbored some introverted traits. When the others planned in the group chat to sneak out at night, Seungmin would sometimes pretend to be asleep, when really he would be curled up in the common room, reading. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with them, especially since being around them helped him get through each day, it was just that he needed space. Sometimes he worried that they wouldn’t understand, and think of him as rude or standoffish. However, he always waved these thoughts away.

Jinyoung came to their booth, unloading the newly filled glasses off a tray slowly. “How’re you guys doing? It’s the first time you’ve come by this year,” He asked with a smile, glancing around at their faces. Overlaps of “we’re good” sounded around the table before Jinyoung passed Jeongin his second glass of lemonade and asked if anything exciting was coming up. “There’s a Quidditch game tomorrow, Slytherin versus Hufflepuff. First match of the year,” Jisung spoke up, his arm rubbing against Seungmin’s, causing the sleeves of his sweatshirt to hitch up his arm. Jinyoung’s left eyebrow arched upwards. “Really? Sounds like a fun match. I can’t help but hope Slytherin win. Sorry to the non-Slytherin guys, I guess I’m forever loyal to my house. A few of you play, right?”  He asked while picking up the few empty glasses on the table. Minho, who was sitting directly across from Seungmin, nodded. “Yeah, me and Hyunjin are on the Slytherin team. I’m captain this year actually, since Jeongyeon graduated last year,” Minho said proudly. Next to him, Hyunjin smiled, lips curling delicately upwards at the corners.

“We’re gonna win,” Hyunjin said. Bluntly. Confidently. “Go easy on us guys, we need this,” Woojin groaned, eliciting laughs from most of the table apart from Jeongin, who just pouted alongside his hyung. “Remind me of your positions,” Jinyoung inquired. For some reason, Jisung spoke on their behalf. “Minho hyung’s the keeper! He’s really damn good. Hyunjin hyung’s the seeker, also really damn good. Not to sound biased,” Jisung answered, munching on a french fry from a dish he had ordered. “Any bets?” Jinyoung nonchalantly questioned. “Hyunjin caught the snitch for Slytherin almost every game last year. They won the cup. Sorry Woojin, I don’t know if there’s much chance for Hufflepuff,” Chan expressed, looking apologetically at his friend. Jinyoung just laughed and returned to the bar.

Hyunjin looked smug at the mention of his team’s win, Seungmin noticed. He was competitive, his eyes always darkened at just the mention of a match. The whole conversation must’ve been stroking his ego. Seungmin absentmindedly played with one of the strings of his blue hoodie. Looking down, he noticed that one was longer than the other, so he pulled the shorter one to even out the lengths. When he looked up and across the table, Hyunjin was looking right at him, his eyes zoned out and thick eyebrows slightly furrowed, leaning back against the seat of the booth. Seungmin sat uncomfortably for a moment before lifting his hand to gently wave it in front of his own face. Hyunjin snapped back into reality and into conversation so smoothly that Seungmin wasn’t sure if it had even just happened, so he allowed himself to just lift his glass and swallow another gulp, and tried to blend into the ongoing talk.

“Jeongin, how’s Nunsongi’s first year at Hogwarts going so far?” Felix asked, referring to the fifth year’s beloved albino pet lizard, named after the Korean word for snowflake. Jeongin had bought him from a breeder in Korea the previous year, but had only just brought him along to Hogwarts. “I think he really loves it here!” Jeongin exclaimed excitedly, face lighting up at the mention of an animal. “I like to take him out to the courtyard and let him lay and walk around on the grass,” He elaborated, and Seungmin remembered how, the previous week, he and Jeongin sat in the grass after lessons and just chatted. A good memory. “Why is nobody asking how Nal’s doing?” Changbin complained. “Changbin, you’ve brought your cat to school since first year. We all know she literally just fucking sleeps in the Ravenclaw common room,” Minho griped, rolling his eyes.

The three drinks were starting to take effect, and Seungmin felt lighter. Rock music gently played from the crappy speaker near their booth. The beat was familiar. It took him an embarrassingly long time to realize it was actually a song by his favorite band. He began mouthing along to the Korean lyrics, until Hyunjin leaned over the table, gesturing Seungmin to come closer. Seungmin did so, unsure of why he felt so nervous. Hyunjin asked what the band’s name was, because he liked the lyrics. Seungmin didn’t know whether he should’ve been surprised at the sudden interest, considering he had no idea what the Slytherin would usually listen to.

“They’re called Day6, the song is I Need Somebody,” Seungmin answered. Hyunjin responded with a small nod, then leaned back and took out his phone, perhaps to note it down.

Seungmin just kept listening. Maybe, he related to the song.

Maybe, he needed somebody.

-

The quidditch stands were packed, with both students and staff equally impatient to watch the first match of the year. Seungmin wasn’t one to care much about quidditch, but he couldn’t help acknowledging the spirit in the crowd, and was actually grateful that Jisung and Jeongin dragged him to watch the match. As did many other Slytherin students, Jisung had green paint messily smeared on the high points of his cheeks, and a thin line going down the middle of his nose. He was objected to doing so at first, but over breakfast that morning Minho had begged Jisung to show some spirit- claiming it would help him perform better- and he immediately caved. Jisung was like putty in Minho’s hands without even realizing it. Jeongin just had little lines of yellow on his cheeks, to match with Woojin. Hufflepuff spirit was always more subtle than Slytherin’s, of course. Being proud (and in Seungmin’s opinion, often boastful) was one of the most prominent traits in Slytherins.

Seungmin hadn’t really picked a side. Him and Changbin were both up later than usual the previous night, and had sat together in the common room chatting, and decided it was best to stay neutral for the sake of their friends. Then Changbin decided to call it a night, leaving Seungmin on his own, half-curled in an armchair in the empty common room. He had issues falling asleep.

Jisung had insisted they all came as early as possible to secure seats near the front, but high enough to not miss the action. Seungmin had sat by the aisle, Jisung on his right, and the rest lining the row from there. Jisung was doing a poor job at disguising his craning glances at the ground entrance of the pitch, where both teams were huddled listening to their respective captains -Minho for Slytherin and fellow seventh year Yugyeom for Hufflepuff- discussing last minute tactics and encouraging them to put on a good first show for the eager crowd. Seungmin knew exactly why Jisung was so entranced.

Minho looked determined, confidently discussing with his team, his right arm wrapped around Hyunjin. Hyunjin had his signature canny smirk plastered on his face. This was the seeker’s playground, a chance to show off to the entire school the same way he’d been doing for years. Seungmin once again had to acknowledge that silver and green made Hyunjin look especially handsome; or maybe, Hyunjin made silver and green look especially beautiful. Seungmin couldn’t quite decide.

Chaeyoung, one of the chasers, must’ve noticed Jisung and Seungmin’s prying eyes, so she tapped Hyunjin’s arm and pointed upwards. Both their friends looked up then, and Jisung broke into a smile. He cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting good luck to them so loudly that both Seungmin and Felix, who was sitting on Jisung’s right, jumped a little. Even though Seungmin had agreed to remain neutral, he found himself echoing Jisung’s shout. He wasn’t quite sure why he did that, but he felt good when he saw the two boys, who were just starting to mount their broomsticks, smile widely back. Minho waved, which Jisung hurriedly reciprocated.

Seungmin wondered if Minho knew that Jisung had a crush on him. Actually, Seungmin wondered if Jisung even knew about his own crush.

-

The game took 75 minutes total. It ended when none other than Hwang Hyunjin himself caught the snitch in a deep dive. The section of the bleachers where the majority of Slytherin were sitting progressed from bated breath to cheers, some people springing to their feet to roar their applause. Jisung had grabbed Seungmin’s arm and dragged him up to a standing position, so Seungmin politely applauded, watching as the Slytherin team made victory laps above the bleachers.

Hyunjin, his hair sweaty and clinging to his forehead, was brandishing the golden snitch in the palm of his gloved hand. He pumped his free fist in the air, a euphoric smile spilt on his glowing face.

Slytherin’s hero, as always.

-

The boys met up outside the entrance of the pitch, preparing to make their way back to the castle as a group and congratulating the two Slytherins on a flawless game. As they were walking back up the sloped gravel path, Minho dramatically recounted each of his saved goals, Changbin clearly biting back his usual comments to allow the captain to bask in the glory of his first win. Seungmin was walking silently slightly behind the group, until Hyunjin slowed in front of him to let the Ravenclaw catch up. Seungmin braced himself for conversation, but there was none. They simply walked next to each other.

Perhaps, Hyunjin felt bad for him. The thought of Hyunjin pitying him was humiliating, but Seungmin let it happen.

“You did really well today,” Seungmin managed, in attempt to break the silence. He wasn’t looking at the Slytherin in the face, but Seungmin would’ve liked to believe that he was smiling. “Thanks, I was actually really nervous,” Hyunjin said, slowly. Seungmin was a little taken back, as he had hardly ever spoken to Hyunjin to start off with, and to hear him speak of his insecurities is something he never thought he’d hear. “It was Minho hyung’s first game as captain and I would’ve hated to have underperformed. I know the game usually comes down to me, it can be a lot of pressure,” Hyunjin continued candidly. Seungmin nodded, he understood what it meant to be pressured. It can be crushing. Expectations can strangle you.

Before Seungmin could formulate an insightful response, the Slytherin began speaking again.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow, right?” Hyunjin asked, and Seungmin could see in the corner of his eye that he was looking right at him. Seungmin was surprised. He never expected anyone to remember his birthday, mostly because Seungmin himself acted as though it practically didn’t exist. Regardless, he just let out a simple “Yeah,” and nodded, head still tilted downwards, watching the gravel move from his steps.

“I got it right!” the older exclaimed with a playful smugness. “Are you doing anything?” He asked. Seungmin shook his head, “Not really, I never do,” he revealed. “Well, that’s a crime,” Hyunjin laughed. Seungmin politely laughed in response, but he probably just sounded awkward.

“Well, happy early birthday.”

“Thanks, Hyunjin.”

-

At 11:37 PM, Seungmin’s phone buzzed with a message from Jisung.

Jisung: r u looking at stars n shit

Seungmin: …. i’m at the astronomy tower, if that’s what u mean

Jisung: k im coming

Seungmin: why

Jisung: ur bday is in 20 mins, i wanted to spend it w u

Seungmin: oh, ok, i’ll unlock the door for u

Jisung: see u soon, i gotta swerve some prefects :p

 

Seungmin folded up the star chart he had been filling out, set down his pencil, and stood up off the observation deck’s floor, making his way to the door. He twisted the lock so Jisung could let himself in, and then made his way back over to the middle of the deck, and sat down looking up at the star-studded sky. The astronomy tower was meant to be off-limits outside of class time, but Seungmin was a favorite of Professor Jang and was able to come by on nights with no classes as long as he didn’t get caught. Sometimes, it was just to catch up on astronomy homework or for some personal research, but usually it was just to spend time nearer to the clouds, either alone or with some company.

Sneaking around Hogwarts wasn’t hard. The curfew was meant to be 10 pm, but in recent years prefects who patrolled were more lax, and as long as you knew the halls well enough you could get around anywhere.

Just a few minutes later, the door was pushed open and Seungmin heard careful steps approach where he was sat. “Twelve minutes,” Jisung’s stated, his phone’s clock open and reading 11:48. Seungmin smiled and gestured to the stone floor for the brown haired boy to sit down on his right. Jisung sat, head leaning on Seungmin’s shoulder. “Were you ok coming up here? You didn’t have to, you know.” Seungmin almost whispered. Jisung nodded. “Yeah, pretty much nobody on patrol, and don’t be stupid, you know I like celebrating your birthday at midnight with you,” he insisted. Seungmin smiled to himself and let his head rest against his friend’s.

“What were you doing up here?” Jisung asked, reaching out to unfold Seungmin’s star chart. “Oh, just some extra-credit for astronomy, some standard charting and labeling. It’s a nice break from studying the origins of magic in deep space,” Seungmin quipped. Jisung rolled his eyes, folded the large page back up, and sighed, his tone on the brink of vexation.

“Minnie, you need an actual break from schoolwork.” 

“And you need to admit you’re in love with Lee Minho.”

“Totally unrelated. But sure, I admit it.”

Turns out Jisung did know he had a crush.

“That easily? Shit, I thought I had some leverage.”

Jisung giggled and lightly bumped Seungmin’s shoulder. “So, are you going to do anything about it?” Seungmin teased. The Slytherin lightly exhaled. “I don’t know if he likes me back, or if he even likes boys,” he shrugged, playing with his own fingers. Seungmin laughed. “He most definitely likes boys, trust me on this. As for liking you, I really think he does,” Seungmin assured, moving his hand to lay atop Jisung’s. The slightly older boy smiled. “I hope so, I wish I could just read his beautiful mind and find out.” Seungmin mumbled a “gross” before pointing out jokingly, “can’t you technically read minds, clairvoyance and all?”

Jisung snorted. “I can make general predictions of the future, but I can’t read minds, yet. But you derailed the conversation. You need to relax a little, you’re already overworking yourself and the school year’s barely begun,” Jisung insisted. “I’m not overworking myself, I just have lot of classes so I’m busy. That’s what you’re supposed to do in school,” Seungmin countered.

Seungmin couldn’t see his face clearly, but he knew Jisung was rolling his eyes. “You’re already fucking up potions dude, you’ve never fucked up potions before this year. I’m telling you man, you’re doing yourself a disservice,” Jisung relented. “Don’t bring up potions, I have no idea what’s going on in that class half the time” Seungmin groaned, head hanging. Jisung shook his head. “Point proven, get a tutor, maybe. But overall, take a deep breath every now and then, okay?”

Seungmin just nodded, and the two slipped into a comfortable silence for a minute before the Ravenclaw remembered something else on his mind.

“Hyunjin wished me happy birthday”

Jisung turned his head slightly to look at him. “Huh, and so what?” “Nothing, im just surprised he remembered.” Jisung chuckled lightly, turning to look back out at the sky. “He’s a nice guy, once you get to know him.”

Seungmin fidgeted a little, and found his eyes tracing constellations he knew by heart. Serpens was especially visible that night.

“Jisung, I think I’m lonely.”

Jisung let a moment of silence hang for a few seconds.

“That’s ok. Being a teenager is hard.”

“Yeah.”

“You have me, ok?”

“Ok.”

“And Jeongin and Woojin and Chan and the rest.”

“I know, that’s why im confused.”

“You can feel lonely without being alone. Emotions don’t make sense.”

A few moments passed.

“Hey, Seungmin.”

“What?”

Jisung held his phone up to the night sky. It was 12:00.

"Happy Birthday.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wont say too much here but firstly thank you for reading this. honestly, it already means a lot. im trying my best to balance action and relationship building, but i did tag this as a slow burn, so it'll be a slow burn haha. please let me know if there are any errors or if any part's confusing, i'm quite guilty of time-jumping. (yes i did make seungmin a day6 stan in the fic lol, also thank you to mia for letting me use her lizard as jeongin's pet <3)
> 
> Come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	3. Chapter 3

It took five read-throughs of the recipe for Seungmin to decide that he was lost.

Glancing to his left, he saw Renjun at his station, eyes narrowed as he carefully chopped a leafy ingredient that Seungmin couldn’t even identify on the apparatus list. Around the classroom, students were at various stages with brewing. Regardless, they were all ahead of him.

When Professor Lee announced that the class were going to be brewing felix felicis- liquid luck- that afternoon, Seungmin internally groaned because he had hardly studied the chapter they were assigned to read in advance, while Felix giggled at the name of the potion.

It was late October, and Seungmin’s time has been eaten up from studying as hard as he could for his five N.E.W.T. classes. He knew taking more than four was discouraged, and only now did he see why. His other classes were going fine; ability in astronomy and charms felt as though they came naturally to him (a true Ravenclaw), and defense against the dark arts and history of magic were fine when he dedicated them a few extra hours of studying.

Potions was the problem. Seungmin liked to joke that it was because, of the four houses, only a small percentage of him would fit into Slytherin. The sorting hat probably laughed at how easy it was to sort him when it saw inside his mind: an introverted kid who loved to read and thought the stars were the most magical thing he’d ever seen.

He knew it it wasn’t as though the students in Slytherin were inborn with an aptitude to properly prepare and mix together substances into the various elixirs and draughts they were assigned, but it sometimes felt that way. He always felt deep envious pangs in the pit of his stomach when he heard the professor compliment the Slytherin students. It was common knowledge that the professor, head of Slytherin house, picked favorites, and it was no coincidence that his favorites were always the serpents.

Slytherin house was no longer plagued with associations with dark magic, which had been almost eradicated decades back. Nonetheless, some Slytherin intimidated Seungmin, and occasionally angered him. He felt as though, in addition to emerald robes, some of the students were adorned with sly smirks and radiated impudence. Sometimes he wondered how him and Jisung turned out to be best friends.

Seungmin defeatedly stumbled through the recipe, with occasional whispered help from Renjun, telling him things like “don’t forget the occamy shell,” or “stir slower.” While he appreciated the help, Seungmin almost couldn’t bring himself to care.

At the end of the 120 minute lesson, the professor made his way around the room, carefully regarding each student’s pale golden vial. The potion had to brew for a few months more to actually constitute as complete, but these two hours alone were enough to show if you knew what you were doing in your cauldron.

Seungmin was tired. He didn’t want to be stuck in the dungeon, and craved some natural light. The unsettling aromas floating about the room were only making him drowsier for some reason. He heard Felix be complimented for his good work. Felix was good at school, he wanted to become a Hogwarts Professor.

“Excellent work, as usual, Mr. Hwang. You know I expect nothing less,” Professor Lee asserted proudly to a gleaming Hyunjin. The Slytherin wasn’t known for being the most studious, focusing most of his time on winning Slytherin quidditch games and skipping lessons to hang out with Minho and Felix by the lake. However, those slender hands had a way with potions. He had told the guys the previous year that he’d decided to become a potioneer, “in case I don’t make the Korean national team,” he’d laughed to the others in their booth in Hogsmeade. Seungmin wished he was in a position to have not one, but two possible career choices.

Renjun’s work was complimented slightly less enthusiastically, and Seungmin felt his stomach lurch when Professor Lee then walked up to his messy workstation. His vial was cloudy, no match for Hyunjin’s perfectly clear concoction. He’d definitely cut come corners, and probably forgot an ingredient or two. Seungmin cautiously looked up and met the professor’s knowing gaze.

“Study harder, Mr. Kim.”

“Yes Sir.”

-

Seungmin got himself out of the freezing classroom as soon as he could.

“That was rough,” Felix said sympathetically when the Australian caught up to Seungmin in the dark corridor. Seungmin only nodded slightly. “Don’t worry about it man, you’re a good student, everybody knows that,” Felix assured, his blond hair swept in front of his left eye. Seungmin brought himself to smile. “It’s ok, I just need to work a little harder,” he replied, tucking his textbook under his arm. Felix laughed. “Not this weekend man, it’s Halloween. You’re going to the dance, right?”

Seungmin had forgotten that the 31st was so soon. He always enjoyed the Halloween feast and the school dance that followed, where you had to attend in costume. “Yeah, definitely,” he responded enthusiastically. Felix grinned, “I can’t wait to see your costume,” and Seungmin suddenly realized he didn’t have one yet. He had to figure that out.

“Also, remember we’re pregaming in Chris’ room after the feast,” Felix added, using Chan’s English name, a habit the Gryffindor had never kicked. “Sounds good,” Seungmin smiled, excited to let loose for a night, to forget all about school and the future.

-

The feast was as lavish as always, with bountiful amounts pumpkin-themed and flavored food spread across the table. The choir was singing various spooky tunes in the front of the Great Hall while some of the Hogwarts ghosts drifted around, making conversation with the living. Seungmin and Changbin sat near the end of the Ravenclaw table with Renjun and Chenle and a few other fellow Ravenclaws. They casually chatted and took turns trying the various pastries to determine which ones were the best. Seungmin always appreciated the way they decorated the hall, the stone walls adorned with intricately conjured decorations and the high ceiling displaying a purple-casted night sky.

He remembered celebrating Halloween before attending Hogwarts, trick-or-treating with his elementary school friends. It was nowhere near as good.

The feast ended at around 7pm. As Seungmin made his way out of the hall with Changbin, the older was complaining about having overeaten, groaning as he messed with his straight black hair. The two of them made their way to Ravenclaw tower in a suspended silence. Seungmin answered the riddle easily, letting the two into their common room as they disappeared into their respective dorm rooms to dress in their costumes before making their way to the Gryffindor common room to meet up with the others.

Seungmin only decided on his costume two days prior, despite Felix’s reminder a week before. He had been sat with Jeongin in the courtyard on a cloudy Thursday, the Hufflepuff letting his lizard rest in the grass while Seungmin sat on one of the stone benches, scribbling in his history of magic textbook instead of actually reading it.

“So, what’s your costume?” Jeongin had nonchalantly asked, to which Seungmin looked up, and groaned. “Shit. I totally forgot.” Jeongin sighed, and they began brainstorming.

They decided on Seungmin going as a vampire, because Jeongin reasoned that it would be easiest to accomplish in a short amount of time, and he insisted that Seungmin would look hot, to which Seungmin blushed hard and repeatedly disagreed.

However, looking at himself in the mirror, Seungmin admitted that Jeongin was onto something. Fake blood was painted dribbling from his mouth and onto his white button up shirt, paint that Jeongin had asked for from Woojin. Seungmin mussed with his reddish dyed hair (which luckily matched his ensemble) to give it a disheveled look, as per Jeongin’s instructions, but he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. He just hoped that it looked good, or even ‘hot’, as the Hufflepuff had put it. He also lightly smoked eyeliner on his eyelids, something his father would probably faint if he saw, but Seungmin felt right with it.

Seungmin met up again with Changbin, who had done the bare minimum with a little bit of white face paint and a matching white outfit. “What the fuck are you even supposed to be?” Seungmin scoffed. “I’m a ghost, you dickhead. What are you? You look like a waiter who was hit by a car,” Changbin jeered back. Seungmin realized that he sort of was dressed like a waiter, considering the white shirt and black pants. “I’m a vampire, you dickhead,” Seungmin retorted, mocking Changbin’s tone. Changbin rolled his eyes, and they stepped out.

Gryffindor Tower wasn’t a far walk. When they reached the painting covering the entrance to the common room, Seungmin stated the password Chan told them to use, and they were let into the warm and welcoming space.

Being head boy, Chan liked to follow the rules, but he bent them all the time when it came to the guys from the KSO. Other houses obviously weren’t allowed to be in common rooms or dorms other than their own, but nobody ever said anything.

The other seven were already scattered around the room, some holding conspicuous red cups. Chan’s roommates were probably already out. They all greeted each other, and Seungmin scanned the room, checking out their costumes.

Minho had whiskers drawn on and cat ears gracing his head. Jisung, sat right next to him, had some poorly applied makeup smudged on his face and purposefully ripped clothes, Seungmin thought it was maybe meant to be a zombie. It took Seungmin a second to understand why Woojin and Chan weren’t in costume and were wearing their uniforms. He realized they were dressed as each other, Chan in Hufflepuff robes and a yellow tie with Woojin’s prefect badge, while Woojin wore crimson ones with the head boy badge and Chan’s specs the head boy sometimes wore. Seungmin mentally ridiculed them for the lame costumes, but he admitted it was a cute concept. Jeongin wore white and a simple halo headband he probably had delivered from home. Seungmin smiled, the angel ensemble suited him. Felix wore an outfit that almost perfectly emulated Kakashi from Naruto, probably the best costume in the room, and Seungmin envied how cool it looked.

Hyunjin was on the far side of the room refilling his cup with what looked like a mixture of mountain dew and vodka. Gross, Seungmin thought, before realizing what he was dressed as.

He wore a white shirt, unbuttoned a third of the way down, putting the Slytherin’s cross necklace very much on display against his chest, spilt with red paint that extended up his neck to his mouth. He wore ripped black jeans while his black hair was suavely styled. Hyunjin looked up at the newcomers and his gaze hung on Seungmin, his lips breaking into a grin. “We match!” He exclaimed from across the room, as if Seungmin hadn’t realized it yet.

Seungmin meekly smiled. His confidence from earlier was gone. Hyunjin looked alluring and much more beautiful than Seungmin could ever hope to be. It was embarrassing. He suddenly understood why every student at Hogwarts was in love with him.

He was about to make his way to sit by Jeongin when he saw that Hyunjin was gesturing him over. He stepped over Woojin’s legs to get there, and Hyunjin asked him if he wanted a drink, to which Seungmin just nodded. The Slytherin poured him the same gross mixture, and handed it to Seungmin with a smile that he couldn’t refuse. It wasn’t as bad as he thought, but the buzz hit him quicker than usual. After an hour, it was completely dark outside of the small dorm window, and they decided to make their way down to the dungeons.

-

Hogwarts became more fun when the school caught up with some of the technology used by the muggle world. Now, students were allowed to use their phones on school grounds as long as they didn’t bring them to class, and faculty used some technological gadgets that did what even some magic couldn’t. Some students and families worried over the confluence of the muggle and wizarding world, but Seungmin and many of his friends, being from mixed wizarding and muggle families, already felt comfortable with the way they’d been raised. Perhaps that’s why Seungmin loved Halloween at Hogwarts so much.

Seungmin often wondered what it must be like for wizard-born students (terms like pure-blood, half-blood, and especially mudblood, had been long since retired and deemed discriminatory). He wondered if that was why Hyunjin and Changbin texted and such less than the rest, since they simply weren’t used to it. Seungmin missed these sort of conversations from when he took muggle studies.

They heard music resonating from the large dungeon ballroom before they were even fully down the stairs. The speakers were probably magically enhanced. They shuffled past fellow costumed students and entered the room, bewitched colorful orbs of light bouncing around the room and students either dancing or mingling. Seungmin’s muggle friends were always partying during the year, and he liked having this day to feel like he was having their sort of fun, and wasn’t just some kid stuck at a mysterious boarding school where all he did was study.

Seungmin hadn’t drunken much, but Hyunjin’s creation was more powerful than he thought it’d be. Maybe if potioneering didn’t work out, the Slytherin could go into mixology, Seungmin joked to himself. Before he knew it, Felix was dragging him by his hand to the middle of the room and further into the tantalizing beat. Seungmin wasn’t a dancer, but some of the others were. Felix’s and Minho’s dance battles were always fun to watch.

He took Felix’s lead to the unfamiliar but catchy song, and he let his instincts take over. Felix was definitely much better than him, but at least Woojin and Chan by them existed to make Seungmin feel better about his own dancing, and his blood alcohol level was just hitting the right percentage for him to not care anyway.

After longer than he had expected to hold out, Seungmin took a break to catch his breath and glance around. Felix was in his own world, probably having had the most to drink out of all of them, occasionally pulling down his mask to shout, hyping up the other students. Woojin and Chan were mingling with a group of fellow seventh years, while Changbin and Jeongin were being wallflowers, chatting together by the door. Jisung and Minho were dancing in a compromising position in the center of the room, their faces just millimeters apart, Jisung’s hands tangled in Minho’s hair and Minho holding the back of Jisung’s neck. Seungmin had half a mind to forcibly remove them from the room and remind them that they were at a school dance, not a club back in Seoul.

He decided to step out for a moment, saying hi to Chenle as he ran into him by the entrance. He pushed the door open and walked a few paces into the hall. “Oh, hey Seungmin,” a familiar voice called as he looked to the right and saw Hyunjin leaning against the wall, scrolling through his phone. Seungmin returned the greeting and walked closer to the Slytherin, who slid his sleek black phone back into the front pocket of his jeans. Hyunjin’s hair was sweaty and clinging to his forehead the way it did after a quidditch game, and his eye makeup was just slightly smudged.

“Funny coincidence,” Seungmin said, gesturing between the two of them. Hyunjin looked down at their clothes and grinned. “It really is,” He said, looking back up to meet Seungmin in the eye. They were both taller than most other students, but Hyunjin was still just a bit taller than Seungmin, so the Ravenclaw still had to slightly look up at him. “The vodka and mountain dew was interesting,” Seungmin stated, to which Hyunjin laughed. “It tastes like shit, but it gets the job done I guess.”

Seungmin maneuvered himself to lean against the wall beside the older boy. “So what are you doing out here?” Seungmin questioned, making conversation. “Probably the same as you, just needed a break. I just texted Ryujin to make sure she’s ok,” Hyunjin replied, referring to his younger cousin. “That’s nice of you, how’s her year been so far?” Seungmin enquired remembering seeing her on the first day. He knew Hyunjin cared about her. It was endearing.

“I think she’s been ok. I hope so at least.” The two fell into a silence for a moment before Hyunjin spoke up again, turning to face the Ravenclaw. “I actually wanted to ask you something.” Seungmin was a little surprised, but before he could ask him what he meant, the sound of footsteps and laughing caused the two to spin around.

Jisung and Minho were walking clumsily, arm in arm and giggling, down the hallway. Minho’s headband was close to slipping off his head. They both took a second to pause and look over at the two others, mumbling a few ‘hi’s before continuing down the hallway and up the stairs to god knows where.

Hyunjin and Seungmin shared a knowing look and laughed. “My best friend is in love with your best friend,” Hyunjin sighed. Seungmin smiled, remembering Jisung’s many nights of stressing over whether or not feelings were reciprocated. “Well, it just so happens that my best friend is also in love with your best friend,” Seungmin replied, smiling.

Seungmin remembered that they were distracted from their original conversation. “Sorry, you were going to ask me something?” Seungmin said, standing straight. Hyunjin nodded. “A favor, actually.”

Seungmin was confused because he didn’t really know what he could offer Hyunjin. The two of them had spoken more often this year, but they still felt more like acquaintances than friends. “I don’t know how to put this,” Hyunjin said, his voice trailing off nervously.

“Do you tutor?”

Seungmin’s eyes widened, and he stuttered out a no.

“Would you be willing to?” Hyunjin asked, slightly more quietly. Seungmin shrugged, initial shock over. “I guess so, it depends for what. Are you asking for Ryujin?”

Hyunjin looked down and nervously laughed. “No. I’m asking for myself actually.”

Seungmin wasn’t sure how to respond. “Oh,” he manages. Hyunjin exhaled slightly. “Quidditch is eating away at my time and energy, and I’m not really a smart person to begin with,” Hyunjin said, Seungmin shaking his head in disagreement at his statement. Hyunjin ignored him and continued. “You’re really smart Seungmin, I’ve been taking classes with you for years. If you were willing to I would be so grateful, I know it’s such a burden but I swear I would pay you back somehow.” 

Suddenly everything made sense to Seungmin. All the sudden kindness from Hyunjin was for him to ask this favor from him, but it wasn’t as though he was going to say no.

Seungmin was silent for a second while his brain processed what he should say, and suddenly, he realized something.

“You’re good at potions.”

Hyunjin looked him in the eye, but didn’t say anything. A few students brushed past them.

“And I’m not,” Seungmin continued, a short silence befalling them.

“What classes do you take?” Hyunjin asked, even though he probably already knew.

“Um, astronomy, charms, defense against the dark arts, and history of magic.”

“And potions.”

“Yeah, and potions.”

“That’s a lot. I’m only taking three. I don’t do astronomy or history, but I’m taking and failing charms and defense against the dark arts. The only class I’ve ever done well in is potions.” 

Seungmin nodded, they had those classes together. He knew Hyunjin was struggling in them, but he didn’t know that he was this eager to do well.

“So, I help you with those two, and you help me with potions.”

Hyunjin smiled, tentatively nodding his head. 

“Yeah, that’s perfect,” the Slytherin said softly.

-

Changbin had caught Seungmin on his way out, and proposed that they walked back to Ravenclaw Tower together. Changbin headed straight for his dorm, while Seungmin collapsed in a chair in the common room. He lay there, desperate remove his makeup and paint, but too tired to actually do anything. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he gingerly pulled it out to see a message from Jisung lighting up the screen.

Jisung: SEUNFGMUIN

Jisung was drunker than Seungmin had thought. The dancing should’ve given it away.

Seungmin: sorry, idk anyone called seunfgmuin

Jisung: ASSSHOLE LISTEN TO M E

Seungmin: spill

Jisung: I HVAE A BOYFRINED

Seungmin: holy shit, minho??

Jisung: HE TOO K ME TOTHE LAKE AND KISSED ME

Seungmin: thats cute

Jisung: HE SAID HE LVOED ME AND ASKEDME OUT SEUNGMNIN IM IN LOV E!

Seungmin: about time honestly

Jisung: enthusiasm pls ):

Seungmin: well to be fair i saw it coming for years but also you guys almost hooked up in front of the whole school.

Jisung: whATever. speaking abt hooking up…. u and pretty boy….

Seungmin: ?? I didn’t hook up w anyone

Jisung: I SAW U AND HYUNJIN

Seungmin: lol no. we were talking about school

Jisung: lame. it’ll happfen one day, i know it

Seungmin: I’m not even gay, u need sleep

Jisung: lol of course ur not…

Seungmin: whatever, goodnight jisung

Jisung didn’t reply after that, and Seungmin just hoped that the smitten teenage boy was passed out in his bed, and not some random hallway to be found by a prefect on patrol. That would mean a few hard weeks in detention.

Seungmin spent the rest of the night scrubbing off eyeliner and googling ‘tutoring techniques’ on his phone, hoping that he hadn’t bitten off more than he could chew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a little longer to write for some reason, but it's here! I don't have much to say so I just hope you enjoyed it. minsung is real but seungjin are still clueless ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> [also, don't forget to support I am WHO and stream my pace when it drops! <3]
> 
> Come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was just descending from its peak in the sky, casting long shadows on the school grounds in the shape of the castle. Seungmin was standing on the side of the wooden bridge, which led away from the clock tower side of the school and overlooked the ravine cutting through the ground. He pulled out his phone to check the time: 2:35 pm. Hyunjin was five minutes late for their first session, which in itself was still an odd concept for Seungmin to grasp. His feet were rocking gently on the planks as he leaned forward with his arms resting on the barrier.

He was nervous. He had never considered himself to be one who could teach others, despite himself being easily taught. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he would get the older boy to do that afternoon. They had texted a few days after their conversation on Halloween night, and agreed on working on charms the following week. It just so happened that their Friday afternoons were both free.

A few minutes later, the Slytherin still hadn’t appeared, and Seungmin began wondering if he should text him to confirm that he was, in fact, going to show up. Just as Seungmin was pondering whether maybe he had decided to ditch the whole arrangement, he heard his name being shouted from the far side of the bridge.

Hyunjin was jogging towards him, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a loose long-sleeved shirt with Slytherin written across the front in green letters, along with their crest. He reached Seungmin quickly and stopped, hardly out of breath. “Hey! I’m so sorry for being late, practice ran over a bit. Minho hyung has been stressed with the upcoming match, so he’s making us all put in some extra time this week,” the Slytherin rambled apologetically while finger-combing his slightly sweaty bangs into place. He had been at quidditch practice, Seungmin deduced, which explained the athletic wear.

Seungmin’s lips formed into a small smile. “It’s fine! Really. I was just hoping you hadn’t forgotten, or changed your mind.” Hyunjin giggled and shook his head, looping his other arm through the empty strap of his bag. “The match is going to be against Ravenclaw, right?” Seungmin continued while gesturing Hyunjin to follow him, leading away from the castle. Hyunjin laughed a little, then followed in suit. “Yeah, your team is our biggest competition right now. I don’t know how much you follow quidditch though,” the seeker explained. “I go to a few games when Jisung drags me there. I usually don’t care about the outcome too much, but it’s always nice when Ravenclaw comes through,” Seungmin said, glancing at the other boy. Hyunjin smiled. “We’ll see how this one turns out then.”

When they stepped off the last wooden plank and onto the grassy knoll, they stopped and were quiet for a moment before Hyunjin spoke up. “So, what are we doing here?” He asked, curiosity tinging his tongue as he probably wondered why Seungmin had invited him outside onto off-campus grounds instead of into a classroom. He hadn’t questioned it through text, and Seungmin appreciated that he had trusted him.

“I thought today we could work on non-verbal spells. I remember you struggling a bit in charms with them, I hope you don’t mind,” Seungmin offered hesitantly. Hyunjin broke into a smile and shook his head. “I don’t mind at all, it’s perfect actually. I can’t conjure a non-verbal spell to save my damn life, and you were best in the class at it.” Seungmin blushed and shook his head out of modesty, even though it was true. “I brought you out here so you don’t... break anything. No offense,” the Ravenclaw said with a careful laugh. “Wise,” the Slytherin laughed back.

Seungmin reached into his bag to pull out his wand, and instructed Hyunjin to do the same. Their wands looked to be about the same length, but Hyunjin’s was darker than Seungmin’s, and had intricate designs engraved in the wood, while the Ravenclaw’s was sleek and simple. “Is that elm?” Seungmin asked, pointing to the wand wrapped in Hyunjin’s long fingers, some of which were decorated with ornate silver rings. Hyunjin nodded. “Yeah, how did you know?” Seungmin shrugged nonchalantly. “I find wands interesting, so I read a lot about them. I’ve gotten good at identifying woods and understanding the importance of their cores and lengths on the magic the user produces.” Seungmin knew that wands made of elm wood were known to belong to wizards of high status in sophisticated families and produce elegant magic, but he didn’t say anything. Hyunjin was watching him speak with interest as the two continued walking along the path leading off the bridge. “Huh, that’s cool. The core is dragon heartstring, if that means anything.” Seungmin nodded. “That makes sense.” Hyunjin’s eyes widened in curiosity, and Seungmin thought that it was cute how engaged he was in the topic. “What do you mean?”

Seungmin shrugged. “Well, it’s known for being powerful. Combine that with the grace of elm wood, and you have a wizard who has a stately presence and charm. I don’t really know how to explain it,” he trailed off shyly, realizing he was perhaps talking too much and sort of sounded like a textbook come to life. Hyunjin looked a little taken aback, and Seungmin hoped his explanation didn’t come off as weirdly complimentary. The Slytherin just grinned and turned to look forward. “Damn. You really know your shit.” He said, making Seungmin laugh. “What about yours?” The Ravenclaw looked down at his wand at the mention of it. “Pine, phoenix feather.” Hyunjin nodded politely, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know what.

Seungmin turned off the path and into a clearing, setting his bag down and gesturing for the other to do the same. Seungmin turned to face his student, trying his best to keep a straight back and to hold his wand as expertly as he could in order to look like he knew what he was doing. “So, professor, what should I do?” Hyunjin said with a playful smirk, approaching the other, making Seungmin lose his composure for a moment and push Hyunjin away jokingly with one arm. “Well, I wasn’t sure which spell we should start with,” Seungmin said openly. Hyunjin shrugged. “I mean, you probably know better than me. I’m fine with anything.”

The Ravenclaw thought for a second. “How about we start with incendio?” He offered. Hyunjin’s eyes widened. “Fire?” The Slytherin asked, slightly taken aback. Seungmin laughed. “Yes, fire. It’s relatively simple to conjure and the results are visible and easy to assess.” He explained. Hyunjin still looked wary, so Seungmin added “It’ll be safe, I promise,” with his best comforting tone. “I wasn’t great at it, even verbally,” Hyunjin mumbled bashfully, and Seungmin vaguely remembered the other struggling when they first learned the spell in charms class two years prior, and cursed himself for not thinking beforehand and choosing a better one. “We can do a different one, but I can help you with this one too. I promise that you’re capable,” Seungmin assured, but the taller boy still had a shard of panic glinting in his dark eyes.

“What if I mess up?” He asked, looking down shyly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Seungmin was surprised to see the other lacking his signature confident aura. He took a step towards Hyunjin and touched his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. It was a weird situation, and he didn’t want the other to feel uncomfortable and for the whole arrangement to fall apart, which some reason was important to Seungmin, he just didn’t know why.

Before Seungmin could say anything, Hyunjin started again, but didn’t move away from his touch. “Sorry, I don’t want to act weird during all this, it’s just a lot for me. I’ve always been self-conscious of my magic and that makes me feel like shit sometimes.” Seungmin was surprised at the sudden confession, but it made sense. Everyone has their insecurities, even the most loved and seemly perfect of people. Hyunjin had been vulnerable with him before too, he just didn’t understand why it was happening again. He met Seungmin’s gaze, which must’ve been hinted at his concerns, because he continued. “It’s nothing about you though, it’s all in my head so don’t worry. I came to you, remember?” He assured, smiling, and Seungmin couldn’t help but soften at his tone. The Slytherin grinned, altering the atmosphere entirely. “So, now that I’ve totally exposed myself, let’s set something on fire?”

Seungmin felt an inexplicable squeeze in his heart from the way Hyunjin’s eyes crinkled when he smiled.

“Sure.”

-

November was known to be a cold month at Hogwarts, but that year it was especially chilly. Even Seungmin, who typically preferred colder weather, felt the piercing chill from the breeze prick his skin through the thick fabric of his black hoodie, making him shiver. The only thing keeping him from turning right back to the castle was the thought of the foaming hot butterbeer waiting for him at The Three Broomsticks.

“Guys, this isn’t worth it. It’s so fucking cold,” Jeongin whined loudly to Seungmin and Jisung. It was Saturday and the three of them were going into Hogsmeade to unwind and catch up, seeing as all of them had been quite busy. “Jeongin, god, stop complaining. It’s been ages since I had a good mug of butterbeer and I’m getting it no matter what,” Jisung asserted, rolling his eyes at the younger as he walked slightly ahead of the two others. “I’m from Busan! I’m not made for this!” Jeongin wailed, his arms wrapped tightly around himself in an attempt to keep his slight frame warm. “It gets cold in Busan too, idiot,” Jisung snapped.

Jeongin and Seungmin shared a look. Jisung was known to have a sharp tongue at times, but not typically to this extent, and definitely not with Jeongin. Seungmin mouthed “don’t worry” to the younger, who looked worried, as though he was the one who had pissed Jisung off. Seungmin knew that when Jisung got like this, it was because he was stressed over something in his personal life. The Slytherin could get emotional and erratic from any sort of discourse or tension. However, Seungmin wasn’t sure what exactly could’ve happened. He made a mental note to have a talk with the other, because he was usually good at helping others rationalize their problems, ironically so, as he often ignored his own.

When they stepped through the heavy wooden doors of the inn, they all welcomed the warm air, and immediately found themselves a table, unzipping their hoodies and light jackets and draping them on the back of the heavy wooden chairs. They ordered a round of warm butterbeer and welcomed the overfilled mugs when they arrived. Seungmin grasped the outside of the ceramic cup, which had some of its paint chipping off, and warmed his hands slightly before lifting the pleasant drink to his lips, allowing the familiar warm, buttery taste to run down his throat. While Seungmin and Jeongin were savoring the drink, Jisung was practically chugging it, and was halfway done with his in almost no time. The blond set his mug down harder than necessary on the table, and Seungmin snapped.

“Instead of acting out on us and being moody, just tell us what’s going on. We’re your friends, no need to be an asshole.” Jisung suddenly averted the two pairs of eyes on him and an ashamed blush climbed up his face. “Sorry,” Jisung mumbled. “It’s fine hyung,” Jeongin reassured, and his smile seemed to make Jisung feel a little better. “It’s just that,” Jisung started, looking away frustratedly. “I feel like Minho has been ignoring me lately, and I’m really worried that he realized he doesn’t actually like me back and thinks of Halloween as just a big mistake.” Seungmin saw how pained the older looked, and felt bad for forcing it out of him.

“What makes you think he’s ignoring you?” Jeongin asked, taking another sip. “He keeps saying he isn’t free to see me, and recently he only replies to my texts hours after I send them.” Jisung shrugged sadly. The gears in Seungmin’s brains churned before he realized.

“Jisung, I think he’s just stressed about the upcoming quidditch match and didn’t want to tell you so that you don’t worry about him. He’s probably spending all of his time practicing and is too tired to give you all the attention you deserve on top of that and studying.”

Jisung turned to look at Seungmin. “How do you know?” He stuttered. Seungmin shrugged. “Hyunjin told me when I saw him after his quidditch practice.” He felt Jeongin nudge him in his side. “Oh yeah, Seungmin went on a date yesterday,” the Hufflepuff said, smirking. Across the table, Jisung choked on his butterbeer. “Seungmin and Hyunjin went on a date?!” He exclaimed, eyes wide. Seungmin rapidly shook his head and glared at Jeongin, who was giggling. “We did not go on a date,” Seungmin deadpanned, causing the excitement in Jisung’s eyes to die down slightly as he slouched down dramatically. “You should though!” He whined, as Seungmin continued to shake his head.

“Whatever, what were you doing with him then?” Jisung asked, suddenly much more invested in Seungmin’s life than his own. “Remember how we agreed to help each other out in some of our subjects? Well, I helped him out with some charms stuff yesterday, non-verbal spells,” Seungmin explained nervously. Jeongin raised an eyebrow. “Why are you being shy about it though?” Jisung and Jeongin giggled as they made fun of Seungmin, the Ravenclaw just letting out an exasperated sigh.

By the end of the hour, they had finished three mugs each, and were sat contently in the bustling pub. Minho had texted Jisung back twenty minutes prior, so he had dipped out of the conversation to focus on typing rapidly away on his phone, looking up only occasionally to say things like: “Guys. He called me babe. I’m going to die.”

Seungmin gestured for them to get the bill, and despite Jeongin’s protests, he paid for all of them, (Jisung couldn’t care less and Seungmin was used to paying for him when they went out). He placed a few galleons on the table and they got up, put their jackets back on, and stepped back out into the late afternoon breeze.

Just as they began making their way in the direction of the castle, Seungmin’s phone buzzed from the pocket of his inner jacket, so he had to fumble a little to get it out. He pushed the home button curiously to see who was messaging him, as the two people he talked to most frequently were walking right next to him.

 

Hyunjin: heyyyy

 

Seungmin couldn’t help but notice the number of y’s used, and it must’ve shown on his face.

“Oh look, I guess Minnie’s boyfriend is texting him,” Jeongin teased as he directed Jisung’s attention away from his text conversation and towards Seungmin. “Holy shit, I’ve never seen him look so panicked,” Jisung replied, laughing. Seungmin fought back his blush, ignoring his asshole friends, and typed a message back.

 

Seungmin: hii, what’s up?

Hyunjin: i was wondering if u were free monday evening?

 

Seungmin almost choked, and he heard his friends crack up behind him. Typically, Seungmin spent Monday evenings in the astronomy tower, but he decided to skip that part of his routine this week.

 

Seungmin: uh yeah, why?

Hyunjin: i can get the potions classroom empty at 8, if u want to go over some stuff

 

That wasn’t what Seungmin was expecting, but it made him happy anyway.

 

Seungmin: that sounds good, so i’ll meet you there?

Hyunjin: sure, see u!

 

Suddenly, Seungmin felt someone’s head peeping over his shoulder, and he turned and saw Jisung scanning the conversation. “Cute!” Jisung squealed as Seungmin pushed him away, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “Nothing cute about it, we’re just trying to pass our classes,” He resisted.

Jeongin gave him a look that made Seungmin think that they could see right through him.

-

Seungmin finished dinner on Monday by 7:55, and excused himself from the table, saying bye to Renjun, whom he had been sitting with. He was going to be a little late, and he hoped Hyunjin wouldn’t mind too much. He slipped through the doors of the Great Hall and quickly made his way up to Ravenclaw tower to grab his bag, then walked to the dungeons. Being alone in the dungeons in the evening was weird. The halls were poorly lit and the lack of human presence was unsettling, but Seungmin just told himself to get out of his own head and keep walking.

Hyunjin was already sat at a desk near the front of the otherwise empty potions classroom. One of his legs was bent and he was loosely hugging his knee, head tilted up to look blankly at the ceiling. His jet black phone was laying on the desk in front of him, as well as a small blue notebook and a pen. He didn’t acknowledge the presence of the boy who had just entered, so Seungmin walked further into the room.

The Slytherin finally noticed the other, and quickly sat up and turned to properly face him. “Hi,” he said, putting on a smile, but one that Seungmin noticed wasn’t as bright as usual. Seungmin returned the greeting and apologized for being a little late, then walked over to sit on the opposite side of the desk, hanging his backpack on the back of the chair and taking out a blue notebook that was just a shade darker than Hyunjin’s, as well as a pen. “So, do you want to go over the felix felicis brewing process?” Hyunjin offered.

His eyes were tired as they looked into Seungmin’s, and the Ravenclaw couldn’t focus on what Hyunjin was saying. “Hey,” Seungmin started, his hand reaching out across the desk to grab Hyunjin’s forearm, and the other looked at him with surprise. “Are you okay?” He continued, making Hyunjin’s eyes fall slightly. It was quiet for a moment.

“Not really.”

“I know we aren’t that close, but I’m here if you need me.”

“It’s okay, I trust you. It’s just messy.”

“Messy?”

“My family. My family is messy.”

Seungmin’s hand squeezed around Hyunjin’s arm. “What happened?” He asked softly. Hyunjin sighed. “My family is large and complex, with a lot of connections and expectations.” Seungmin nodded. As he’s been able to tell before, he was of old money, and of one of those influential families in the wizarding world. “Being born into my family tree means that they’ll watch your every step, pressuring you to pursue greatness or whatever.” Hyunjin continued slowly. “Typically, it’s me they’re pressuring. Dozens of eyes watching and mouths telling me to work harder, to either make my quidditch dream come true, or get somewhere in the ministry. That’s why I came to you for help, I wanted to get better so they’d get off my back.”

“Oh,” was what Seungmin could manage. It made sense then, why he had come to him. “Anyways, I’m usually fine with that because I learned to not care as much as I used to, so it doesn’t feel as crushing as it once did.” Hyunjin then picked up his phone. “But now,” he said, unlocking his phone and pulling up an app. “They’re really digging into Ryujin.” Hyunjin held up a messenger app and scrolled quickly through a long conversation typed in Korean with who Seungmin assumed was Ryujin. Hyunjin put his phone back down. “She texted me and told me that her mother- my aunt- sent her a fucking howler, two months into school, to publicly humiliate her as it screamed about needing to ‘do better’, a vague phrase that I fucking hate.”

Seungmin saw that the other was getting agitated just from venting about it. “First of all, it’s cruel and humiliating. But mostly, It’s probably bothering me this much because my mom did the same thing. Public humiliation is a preferred method by Hwang Family to force success.” Hyunjin finished, exhaling softly. Seungmin wasn’t sure what to say, but he had to say something. “The fact that you had to go through that level of judgment is really shitty, I’m sorry. You never let it show though, you’re really strong. I admire you a lot for that… your strength.”

Hyunjin broke into a small but genuine smile at Seungmin’s stumbling words. “I’m sure your cousin is strong too, it should run in her blood,” he continued softly. Hyunjin’s eyes met his, much softer than they were before.

“Sorry, you didn’t come here to be a counselor. I keep doing this, don’t I? Unloading my personal burdens on you.” Hyunjin said apologetically. Seungmin pulled his arm back but shook his head. He didn’t mind learning more about Hyunjin, and he’s started to feel protective of his emotions. “Don’t worry. I’m happy if I can ever be of comfort.”

Hyunjin opened his notebook and uncapped his pen.

“You are. Let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is essentially seungmin being everyone's emotional counsellor oops. I hope this wasn't too awful and thank you for reading and for all the nice things everyone's said so far, it means a lot <3 as always please let me know of any mistakes or inconsistencies.
> 
> come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	5. Chapter 5

“What’s the point! Isn’t this shit useless now?”

Hyunjin’s exasperated voice broke through the cool air, and Seungmin looked up to find him scattering his pile of flashcards onto the grass. Hyunjin had frantically texted Seungmin that morning, asking him if he had time to help him study for their upcoming defense against the dark arts quiz. Seungmin met him in the courtyard at 4pm, prepared with some flashcards he had made for himself a few weeks ago, hoping they would be helpful.

About an hour had passed, and Hyunjin was still going through every card Seungmin had made, while Seungmin lounged in the grass, reading. Hyunjin would occasionally reach over to shake the younger’s shoulder to ask him to explain something, in addition to thanking him profusely at every chance for surrendering his time like this, no matter how many times Seungmin explained that it was really no problem.

But it seemed as though Hyunjin had reached the end of his patience for the ‘dead’ subject, which is how some students viewed it considering the lack of a major dark force in the magical world for the first time in centuries.

“It’s not useless,” Seungmin protested. “There’s still bad stuff out there, maybe not Voldemort-grade evil, but it’s still there. My dad breaks curses for a living, he would know,” He continued, as Hyunjin gathered all the paper he had strewn in the grass. Hyunjin smiled sheepishly. “You’re right, sorry. I just don’t vibe with this stuff I guess.” Seungmin nodded, he understood what he meant. Everyone had subjects they felt naturally inclined to enjoy and succeed in.

Hyunjin scooted to sit right in front of Seungmin, looking him in the eyes, before setting the pile of cards to the side and pulling a random one from the middle. He handed the other the small white paper as Seungmin set his book aside. “Test me!” Seungmin couldn’t help but smile as he always did at the other’s energy and enthusiasm.

He scanned the paper and dictated the question: “What is a ‘Lethifold’, and what is the only effective form of protection against one?”

Hyunjin briefly cocked his head to the side, as though he was sifting through possible answers, before straightening his back and reciting with robotic accuracy: “A Lethifold, also known as a ‘living shroud’, is a rare dark creature found primarily in tropical climates. It takes on a floating cloaked form and attacks humans at night. The only known defensive spell is the patronus charm,” he finished with an air of satisfaction at his response.

“Perfect!” Seungmin celebrated, giving the other a high five, and placing the card back in the pile. The other didn’t pick up another card. “Actually, what’s your patronus? I’ve always been curious,” Hyunjin asked, looking at him quizzically. Seungmin leaned back slightly on his hands before answering. “A cat.”

Hyunjin gasped a little. “Dude, that makes so much sense,” to which Seungmin giggled, pulling his bag towards him to take out his wand. Hyunjin tilted his head, looking cautiously at the him. “You’re not going to conjure it here, right?” Seungmin shook his head. “Don’t worry. Look, I can cast a small projection of it.”

With that, the Ravenclaw flicked his wand without a verbal command, and shimmering blue wisps formed and shot into the air above the two of them. The shapeless blue strands soon formed into a small short-haired cat, swatting at the air playfully.

Hyunjin was looking up, totally captivated by the enchanting silhouette, until Seungmin waved his wand one more time and it crumbled away into the wind. Hyunjin lowered his gaze to meet Seungmin’s. “Holy shit. That was incredible.” Seungmin fought back his blush burning deep inside. He was never good at thanking people when they complimented him.

Instead, he gestured to Hyunjin’s wand resting in his lap. “Your turn.” Hyunjin gently shook his head. “I can’t do what you just did,” he said shyly. Seungmin narrowed his eyes. “Yes you absolutely can. If you could do non-verbal attack spells last week, you can do this.” Hyunjin nodded testily. “Okay, what do I do?”

Seungmin explained the mental process of weakly conjuring a patronus so it only appears in miniature, and the respective hand movement. Hyunjin listened closely, then picked up his wand. He furrowed his brows, and with a perfect flick, the same blue wisps began to form. He glanced excitedly at Seungmin, who couldn’t tear his eyes away from Hyunjin’s overjoyed face, and only did so out of curiosity to see which creature the strands would sculpt.

In a few seconds, there was a small blue fox jumping in the air above their heads. They both watched with fascination as the conjured creature leapt and bounded upon thin air, its footprints scattering shimmering dust on the two boys. Hyunjin snapped out of his trance and waved the creature away, the animal dissipating into the air.

“A fox is one of the coolest patronuses I think I’ve seen,” Seungmin mused after a few seconds to a gleaming Hyunjin. “I’ve never thought too much about it, to be honest,” the Slytherin shrugged.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, with the study materials and Seungmin’s book left abandoned in the grass. Daylight was starting to get washed away, and even though night wouldn’t fully fall for another few hours, you could still tell how far the sun had descended from its point in the sky. There were fewer and fewer students in the courtyard with them as time passed, and the air was mostly still apart from an occasional November breeze. It was peaceful.

Hyunjin began absentmindedly tearing at the grass. “So, Seungmin. Are you going to the game tomorrow?” He asked. His head was still slightly tilted down, so his hair was hanging gently over his eyes. Seungmin nodded. The quidditch match against Ravenclaw that Hyunjin and Minho and the rest of the Slytherin team had been preparing so much for was to happen the next day. “Of course,” he confirmed.

Hyunjin broke into a smirk. “Who are you going to root for?” He asked slyly. “Um. My own house, I guess,” He answered. Hyunjin’s smile immediately faded into a pout. “Why not root for us?” He gently whined. Seungmin rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m going to root for my own house over yours.”

Hyunjin huffed and dramatically laid back into the grass, arms resting above his head and his plump lips still forming a frown. “Seungmin, cheer for me.”

Seungmin’s breath hitched. He was genuinely at a loss for how to respond to the older boy’s whines. “Why should I do that? You’re the enemy,” Seungmin shot back, avoiding his gaze and trying to keep his cool. Hyunjin turned his lolling head to face him.

“Make me an exception.”

Seungmin couldn’t fight back the upturning corners of his mouth. “Fine. I’m rooting against the entire Slytherin team except for you.” That seemed to satisfy Hyunjin, who turned his head back to gaze at the darkening clouds. Silence lasted only a few seconds.

Seungmin, almost instinctually, began to quietly sing, as he often did on his own. “You are, the only exception…”

His soft voice reached the other boy, who broke into a smile, his eyes not shifting away from the sky. “Paramore? I haven’t listened to them for years.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes, before adding:

“You have a pretty voice.”

Seungmin felt his cheeks heat up against the cool air. “I thought it was fitting,” He responded, ignoring the compliment. Hyunjin suddenly patted the grass beside him. “Lay down with me, the sky is gorgeous.” Seungmin nodded and tentatively laid down next to the other boy. The grass was cool and, as Hyunjin promised, the sky was captivating.

He felt Hyunjin’s fingers brush his as the other fidgeted slightly, and it made Seungmin’s whole body tense and his mind begin racing with the desire to feel that contact one more time.

-

It was only when Jisung hit his right shoulder hard and Renjun shouted out in disappointment on his left that Seungmin realized that Slytherin had won the match.

The two seekers had flown up high above the stands in pursuit of the snitch, and eventually broke away from one another. Hyunjin zoomed back down, snitch in hand and held high above his head, while the Ravenclaw seeker, Jaemin, stayed up in the air, probably combating disappointment before meeting the public eye again.

Hyunjin landed on the grass of the pitch, as the rest of his team rushed around him, cheering along with the green and silver supporters in the stands. Renjun and Jisung didn’t know each other, but Seungmin had sat between them, perhaps symbolic to how he had felt about the hour-long game. Ravenclaw was his house and his classmates like Renjun were like family, but Hyunjin’s voice looped in his mind.

“Seungmin, cheer for me.”

So he did, just silently.

Then, Renjun and Jisung both stood up, ushering Seungmin down the stands so they could talk with the teams. They got onto the field after Jisung bat his eyes at the gamekeeper, who was acting as usher. The two teams were on separate sides, with Slytherin still celebrating loudly, while Ravenclaw were chatting with good-sport smiles on their faces.

Jisung spared no time, immediately sprinting towards the Slytherin cluster and running into Minho’s arms. The keeper lifted his boyfriend up, giving him a relatively chaste but extended kiss before setting him down again. Seungmin followed Renjun to where the Ravenclaw team were stood, Renjun abandoning Seungmin almost immediately to talk to Jaemin. The two had been pining for years and were only just realizing that their feelings were reciprocated.

Seungmin tried to mingle, but he honestly barely knew anybody other than Jaemin on the team. His eyes darted around the emptying stands, wondering if maybe Woojin or Chan had come along to the match, but he couldn’t spot them. His gaze then fell upon the opposite side of the pitch.

He could’ve sworn it was just by mistake that his eyes fell upon Hyunjin. The mvp had shed his heavy black quidditch robes, so he was just in his regular grey house shirt and sweatpants. His arms were bare and hugging his unworn robes to his body. His hair was still sweaty, and he was smiling, laughing even, his eyes two crescent moons and his mouth stretched wide. He was talking to Chaeyoung, the sixth year chaser who had a spunky attitude and pretty smile. They were looking into each others eyes and Seungmin didn’t know why that bothered him so much. He wanted nothing more than to look away from the two but his line of sight was glued.

The two hugged and that's when Seungmin decided he should leave. He was about to make his way to the gate when he heard his name being called.

“Seungmin!”

Shit. Maybe he stared for too long.

Hyunjin bounded over to him, that annoyingly perfect smile still glued to his face. Seungmin put on a smile. “Hey, congrats. That was a really amazing game,” he gushed, and his complementation reached Hyunjin’s shameless cheeks. “Your guys really put on a tough fight,” he responded, gesturing to the Ravenclaw team. Seungmin nodded proudly, not saying anything. “I hope you kept your promise though,” Hyunjin said, teasing and gently knocking his shoulder. Seungmin was flustered but managed to keep his composure. “What promise?” He somehow managed without stuttering. “That you’d cheer for me. I didn’t have the chance to try to look for you in the stands, even though I wanted to.”

At this point, Seungmin’s smile was entirely due to nerves. “Of course. I promised, didn’t I?”

His eyes darted behind the tall boy in front of him, and he managed to find Jisung, who was still wrapped in Minho’s arms and was looking in the Ravenclaw’s direction. He raised his eyebrow suggestively, and Seungmin quickly looked away and reminded himself to give him a good punch on the arm later.

Hyunjin was still full of energy, an athlete’s post-victory high. Seungmin was going to say more, but then he heard Chaeyoung’s voice call Hyunjin’s name, and that twisting feeling in his gut returned. Hyunjin snapped his head around and saw that his team (and Jisung), were leaving. He smiled apologetically to Seungmin. “Sorry, I gotta go. You can come with us, if you want?” He offered, gesturing to the group behind him. Seungmin returned a smile cautiously. He wasn’t a Slytherin, and even if he wanted to go along, he just wouldn’t fit in.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll stay with my team,” He responded blankly. Hyunjin nodded slowly, it looked like his smile faltering. “Okay. I’ll see you around, I hope?” Seungmin nodded. “Yeah. Congrats again,” He responded, Hyunjin returning a thank you before leaving.

Seungmin spun around quickly and made his way to Renjun and Jaemin, who were looking in his direction.

“Since when were you so close with the Slytherins?” Jaemin questioned cautiously. Seungmin’s face burned. “I’m not. Jisung is my best friend, so I know his friends. Nothing more.”

Maybe that was just a little too defensive.

He knew what Renjun was going to say just from his expression. “What about Hyunjin?” Seungmin scrunched his face in feigned confusion. “We study together,” he responded bluntly. Renjun looked like he could’ve delved deeper, so before he could, Seungmin continued talking. “So have you two finally decided to get your heads out of your asses and date?” Jaemin’s face reddened and Renjun looked like he could stab Seungmin on the spot.

Their attention was diverted, mission success.

Seungmin’s mind, on the other hand, was still racing.

-

2am was such a peaceful time. Seungmin was reading in the Ravenclaw common room, lounging on the soft blue couch in front of the fireplace. It was so comfortable. He was alone, and the only sounds were the crackling of the fireplace, the rustling of pages, and the occasional owl hooting as it passed by the big window on the far side of the room.

He knew that his sleeping habits were unhealthy. It wasn’t like he wasn’t as exhausted at the end of a day as everyone else, because he was. He just sometimes physically couldn’t sleep, and when that happened, he preferred to read in the common room rather than lay awake in his bed, trying to count sheep or whatever.

So here he was, a history of magic essay laying unfinished on the black coffee table, as he curled into the corner of the couch, his head propped up on a pillow and his book resting on the lap of his grey sweatpants.

From the corner of his eye, he saw his phone screen light up from where it lay discarded on the corner of the table. He had half a mind to ignore it and reabsorb himself back into his book, but he thought maybe it was Jisung telling him how his first ‘fancy date’ with Minho had gone. The curiosity of what a fancy date at Hogwarts could be won over, so he closed his book and reached over to grab the device.

Only Jisung’s name wasn’t glowing on the screen. It was Hyunjin's.

“What the fuck… it’s two in the morning,” Seungmin mumbled to himself in disbelief. The pair hadn’t spoken since the quidditch match last week. Regardless, Seungmin swiped the notification and typed in his password.

 

Hyunjin: where are you?

 

Seungmin stared at his phone screen, dumbfounded.

 

Seungmin: in my common room… why?

Hyunjin: why are u still up? it’s 2am

Seungmin: you’re awake too, apparently.

Hyunjin: fair

Hyunjin: are u alone?

Seungmin: yeah. hyunjin what’s going on

Hyunjin: nothing

 

Seungmin didn’t know what to text back, so he didn’t, and Hyunjin didn’t text again. He didn’t know what just happened, but he wasn’t in the mood to think about it too much. Maybe he was drunk or something, which wouldn’t necessarily explain anything, but that let Seungmin put his already tired mind at rest.

It was nearing half-past two when his phone buzzed again, and Seungmin begrudgingly looked up from his book. The plot was just getting good.

 

Hyunjin: seungmin pls help

Seungmin: what’s going on

Hyunjin: can you answer this riddle?

Hyunjin: what are dark but only visible in the light?

Seungmin: why are you asking me this where did it come from

Hyunjin: … ugh ok I wanted to surprise you

Hyunjin: i knew your stupid common room was guarded by a riddle… but it’s hard I don’t get it

 

Seungmin scoffed out loud, unable to tell if he was flustered or nervous or excited, maybe all of the above.

 

Seungmin: lmao

Hyunjin: pls im a slytherin im not built for this

Seungmin: shadows

Hyunjin: oh

Seungmin: shadows need light to exist

 

Before Seungmin got a text back, he heard the common room door push open. True to his words, Hyunjin appeared, standing in the doorway. Seungmin failed to fight back a smile at the sight of him. His tall figure was clad in loose, checkered pajama pants that were somehow too long even for him, pooling at his ankles.

“What are you smiling at?” Hyunjin asked gently grinning as he closed the door carefully and began walking towards Seungmin. “Nothing, you just look cozy,” he mused, moving aside some pillows to make room on the sofa. Hyunjin sat down and Seungmin gently slid his book and phone onto the middle of the coffee table, before sitting back down.

Seungmin was so used to sitting on the couch alone, that it felt weird to feel how the middle was dipping down from the weight of two people instead of one. Hyunjin was sat totally nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just strut into another house’s common room at two in the morning to ‘surprise’ Seungmin, which was still twisting his mind as to what the hell that could mean.

They spoke at the same time.

“What are you doing here?”

“How was your day?”

They both paused and loosely laughed, both clearly trying to focus their gaze on the cracking fire in front of them rather than each other. Seungmin decided his question wasn’t worth asking and answered Hyunjin’s instead.

“It was ok, classes felt like they went on forever though.” Hyunjin nodded, then gestured to the fireplace. “I didn’t know the other common rooms had actual wood in their fireplaces.” Seungmin turned to him. “What do you mean?” He asked. Hyunjin smiled as though Seungmin was missing something. “Ours is electric. We can make it change color, but it’s usually green.”

Seungmin tried to hide his scoff as amusement, but Hyunjin saw through it. “It’s ridiculous, I know. Your room in general is way cozier, I’m jealous,” Hyunjin stated openly, looking at the many bookshelves and paintings lining the walls. “Not as cozy as Gryffindor’s,” Seungmin pointed out, Hyunjin humming in agreement. Seungmin began noticing how the other’s voice was deeper than usual, almost croaking as he quietly spoke. It was like his voice was strained from the day. Seungmin had to admit that the throatiness was hot. Like, really hot.

Fuck. Seungmin wasn’t supposed to be thinking like that.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “We haven’t talked since the game,” to which Hyunjin hummed once again in acknowledgment. Seungmin wished he’d stop doing that. “How did your defense against the dark arts quiz go?” He asked. Hyunjin suddenly perked up to look at him, eyes excited.

“I got 100%!” The Slytherin exclaimed eagerly. Seungmin felt every muscle in his body soften and his face light up without meaning to. He was probably smiling the hardest he had all week. “That’s amazing, really. I’m proud of you,” Seungmin gushed softly. Suddenly, Hyunjin moved his hand to cover Seungmin’s, which had been resting on his knee. Hyunjin’s hand was warm, and gently squeezed around Seungmin’s colder fingers. Before Seungmin could process that they were effectively holding hands, the older dragged his fingers slowly off of his, sliding gently down Seungmin’s leg before returning to his own lap, his own fingers intertwining.

Even if Seungmin knew how to continue the conversation, the droning silence was too heavy to pierce anyway. Hyunjin’s left knee bounced gently and his head swiveled around to have a second glance around the warm room.

“Why are you always up so late?”

“Dunno. Can’t sleep.”

Hyunjin glanced at him knowingly, ushering a better response out of him. “I guess it only gets bad when I’m at school. I can lay awake for hours just staring at the ceiling, but I guess it’s like my mind is incapable of switching off.” Seungmin sighed and pulled his knees up as he melted deeper into the soft cushions. “Some things just never leave my head. Sometimes it’s like different parts of me are all talking at once, about my future or identity. I just want them to shut up so I can rest like everyone else but I just can’t shake those anxieties.” Seungmin felt Hyunjin’s eyes on him. “I can’t stop thinking, so I can’t sleep,” he finished quietly.

A distantly familiar warmth suddenly spread across his skin, as Hyunjin’s fingers curled around Seungmin’s wrist for a second, before sliding down to his open palm. Their fingers intertwined with little effort, and the older squeezed gently, sending a surge of inexplicable comfort and security through Seungmin’s entire body. He expected the other to break their hands apart again, but he didn’t.

“I understand,” Hyunjin finally voiced out. “The anxiety, I mean. I’m sorry it has to manifest in insomnia, I wish you didn’t have to go through that.” His voice was smooth and reassuring. Seungmin nodded. “Don’t worry about it though, I’m used to it. I just use it an an opportunity to be productive for longer.”

Hyunjin suddenly giggled. “God, you work so hard. I admire you,” he smiled, and Seungmin turned his head to finally look the other in the face. He was incandescent. His skin glowing with the shadows of the dancing flames, and his dark irises glinting from the fire.

Seungmin knew he was staring, and he didn’t stop himself. Hyunjin was beautiful, everybody already knew that. It was just that now, he understood that his words, heart, and mind were also beautiful. Seungmin wanted the earth to swallow him whole for letting such cheesy thoughts invade his mind, but he decided to just accept it.

Hyunjin squeezed their hands, breaking Seungmin out of his thoughts. “Do you want me to tell you what helps me go to sleep?” Seungmin answered with a quick nod, hoping he wasn’t blushing.

“It helps me to paint scenes in my mind. It almost feels like I can transport myself somewhere else.” Seungmin looked at him with piqued curiosity. “For example, I love the sea. Some nights I squeeze my eyes shut and remind myself of what crashing waves sound like. Then I try to remember the perfect blue-green color of the pacific, because it sort of feels like home. Eventually, it all pieces together. Waves crashing against rocks, maybe a seagull flying over. Before I know it, I’m out cold.”

They both fell quiet. “Shit,” Seungmin breathed, making the Slytherin giggle. “What?” He whispered. “That was really relaxing. Just hearing you talk.” Seungmin mumbled, but he wasn't going to let him know that he thought his voice was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever heard. He had turned his head away from Hyunjin’s face by now, resting on a pillow, but he swore he could still feel the other smiling. “Really? Let me do it again then. What should I do this time? A city, or maybe a forest?” Seungmin smiled. “Forest, please.”

Hyunjin’s thumb was running soft circles on the back of Seungmin’s hand, and with every rotation Seungmin could feel his eyelids get heavier. “Alright.” Hyunjin sat up slightly, and Seungmin, without thinking, let his head fall onto his shoulder.

Hyunjin described a lush green forest, specifying every sort of creature scuttling in the leaves and even the fresh smells lingering in the breeze. With every word, Seungmin felt his head getting heavier, and he let more of his weight fall onto Hyunjin’s body. His shirt smelled faintly of cologne, and with each inhale Seungmin breathed in more and more of the pleasant scent.

He wasn’t sure how soon he fell asleep after he had closed his eyes, but he knew that when his eyelids first shut, he immediately slipped into Hyunjin’s intoxicating breathing, and slowly unwound until he dozed off.

He woke up the next morning earlier than usual, for him or anyone else. The big bay window was streaming in the dawn, and Seungmin yawned. Hyunjin was long gone, but Seungmin still felt like his gentle fingers were clutching his own, and suddenly that electric warmth returned.

That was the morning that Seungmin realized he was in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! I really hope this chapter was properly fluffy and fulfilling, seeing as I've dragged this slow burn on for so long (we still have a few more chapters to go though!). I dont have much to say so please feel free to leave a comment because they're my favorite things ever to read hehe.
> 
> come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	6. Chapter 6

Jisung’s jaw fell slack when Seungmin finished speaking.

“Holy shit.”

Seungmin nodded as he sipped his beer. “Holy shit indeed. I don’t know what the fuck to do.” Jisung snorted at that and tipped back the rest of his, gesturing to Jinyoung to bring him another glass of the same. “Yes you do. Date him, you idiot.”

Seungmin had offered for the two to meet up at the pub on the edge of Hogsmeade, promising Jisung details on what happened between him and Hyunjin, in exchange for advice and an update on Jisung’s own love life.

Seungmin blushed. “It’s not that simple. I don’t even know if he likes me, or boys, fuck.” Jisung rolled his eyes. “Dickhead. When I said that about Minho, you said he was gay, and you were right. There’s some sort of homosexual gene in the KSO. I’d say there’s an 80% chance he’s at least bi,” he finished matter-of-factly, as he gratefully accepted the glass from Jinyoung.

Seungmin looked down and picked at the splintering wooden table. “Have you seen the way he looks at Chae?” Seungmin mumbled, not looking his best friend in the eye. “Chaeyoung?” Seungmin nodded. “Dude, they’re close friends, and teammates. What do you want, for them to not interact?” Jisung snorted. Seungmin remained quiet, feeling redness rise to his face.

Jisung chuckled. “You’re jealous. You’re super-duper jealous that your crush talks to other people. I never thought I’d see the day. My very own Kim Seungmin, irrationally in love.”

Seungmin looked up to wordlessly glare at the Slytherin. Jisung raised both his hands in feigned guilt. “Alright, sorry. Too soon for the truth, I get it.”

At that, Seungmin groaned, because it really was the truth. Firstly, he was in love with Hwang Hyunjin, which wasn’t news, but was shocking nonetheless. Secondly, Seungmin was jealous. Hwang Hyunjin happened to be one of the most popular students, not just in Slytherin House, but at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

They were opposites.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Jisung said nonchalantly, taking a frothy sip. Seungmin raised an eyebrow, and leaned back in the booth. “You’re thinking about how you two are opposites. How you two should be one of the least compatible couples, so you’re confused about your strong feelings for him.”

Seungmin sighed. “You’ve got to stop doing that.” Jisung giggled. “It’s not even the clairvoyance, you’re just really fucking easy to read,” he said smugly.

Before Seungmin had a chance to respond, Jisung started talking again. “But I knew this would happen eventually.” Seungmin rolled his eyes at that. “How? I used to barely ever talk to him.” Jisung smirked. “Your zodiacs,” he stated plainly.

Seungmin rolled his eyes. The meaning of the stars was a constant debate between the two of them, one of them being an astronomer, and the other an astrologist.

But today, Seungmin was willing to listen. “Please, indulge me in your bullcrap.” Jisung pouted, “don’t call it that. You’ll see how it makes sense.”

Jisung went on to explain how Virgo and Pisces were compatible, despite their stark differences. Seungmin, born late September, was a Virgo. Hyunjin was a Pisces, from mid March.

Seungmin half-listened as Jisung listed off the contrasting yet complimentary qualities of both signs. He couldn’t lie, he loved seeing his friend’s face light up this way when he spoke about his passions.

Seungmin thanked him for saying something interesting for once, which Jisung scoffed at, but thanked him for. “Anyways, you never told me about your fancy date with Minho. I’ve been itching to find out what the hell you can do at Hogwarts that classifies as fancy.”

Jisung’s eyes lit up again. Minho was another topic that Jisung was passionate about. “He took me by the lake for dinner, he stole a bunch of food from the kitchens and set up a picnic,” Jisung rambled, clearly infatuated with the Quidditch captain. “Theft, how romantic,” Seungmin joked as he finished his glass, not asking for another.

“Shut up, it was cute.”

-

The Headmistress announced one morning in the first week of December that an apparition class would be held every Wednesday from then until February for sixth year students. Seungmin and the rest of his year were excited, as apparition was a sought after privilege and skill, bringing childhood dreams of teleportation to life.

At least, Seungmin thought he’d enjoy it. Hyunjin hadn’t contacted him since that night, and Seungmin was too insecure to reach out himself. He started thinking that maybe it really was all out of pity, a sort of community service: the popular student helping a pathetic classmate fight his insomnia.

This affected apparition class, because, for some forsaken reason, Hwang Hyunjin had to be assigned to stand just a few paces from Seungmin, and perfectly in his line of vision. Instead of focusing on what their charms professor was instructing at the front of the hall, he was watching the tall boy.

Every year, it got colder in the castle come December, and students began wearing cardigans and sweaters to keep warm. Hyunjin was wearing a simple v-neck knitted pullover, but Seungmin couldn’t help but think it really suited the Slytherin, clearly displaying a sliver of his chest and the silver cross that lay so prominently on it.

Shit, Seungmin reminded himself that he had to stop checking him out and watch the front. Even when he looked away, his mind raced. He hadn’t even thought about what this crush meant for his sexuality. Ever since he had a summer romance with a girl from his hometown two years ago, he had assumed he was as straight as a ruler. That was clearly untrue now, unless Hyunjin was some sort of weird exception, which he probably wasn’t, because Seungmin would be lying if he said he hadn’t realized that he used to fantasize about some of his other hyungs. Was he gay? Or maybe bisexual?

“Ugh, come on Seungmin. Snap out of it,” he muttered to himself, trying to think about anything other than his all-consuming gay crush. Jisung would tell him that labels don’t matter, to just go with what he felt without thinking about it too deeply, which Jisung generally believed was one of Seungmin’s primary flaws: his capacity to overthink anything.

He was clearly not wrong, because here Seungmin was, overthinking.

He could’ve loitered around after class, trying to weasel into a conversation Hyunjin was in, to eventually steal him away and have him all to himself. Instead, he made a cowardly beeline for the door, ignoring the Slytherin when he began approaching him, pretending he hadn’t seen him.

A few days later, Seungmin was sitting in the library with Jeongin, helping the younger to study for his mock O.W.L exams that were in mid-December. Jeongin happened to notice an incoming message on Seungmin’s phone. It was from Hyunjin. Everything was Hyunjin these days. He was asking if Seungmin wanted to meet up to study potions again. 

Jeongin looked to Seungmin excitedly. The younger had long picked up on Seungmin’s complicated feelings. “Hyung, say yes!” The Hufflepuff exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. Seungmin pauses for a moment, before quickly shaking his head and flipping his phone screen down.

He was going to avoid his problems until they went away.

He was going to avoid his crush until it went away. He didn’t want to pine over something he couldn’t have.

He didn’t want to fall any deeper in love with Hyunjin.

-

Another week passed. The next week were his mid-year exams, followed by Christmas break. He had learnt from a call with his parents that he wasn’t going to be able to visit Korea.

That made him feel like shit. Having to do exams he didn’t feel prepared for was hard enough, but not being able to go home and see his family afterwards made it so much worse.

Seungmin didn’t really like wearing his emotions on his sleeve, always tying to maintain a neutral expression in the halls no matter his situation. That day, he was failing to do so. He discovered this when he passed Chan in the hallway after classes ended, waved hi to him, and attempted to walk on.

Chan was not having it. The Gryffindor backed up and stopped Seungmin in his tracks.

“Something’s wrong.”

A lot was wrong, but Seungmin just nodded. Chan pulled him into a warm hug. “I know. Exams are coming up and you aren’t going home. I heard from Felix,” Chan said gently. His accented voice was calming. “Look, I have an idea. You know the prefect bathroom on the third floor?” Seungmin nodded.

“Go there, either today or tomorrow or something. Take a bath. They have this crazy bathtub, it’s just like what you read about in your Hogwarts history books.”

Seungmin accepted the password from Chan as he was pulled into one more hug. The Australian waved goodbye and good luck, disappearing behind a corner.

Seungmin decided it was worth a try. He was used to, and frankly happy with the shitty dormitory showers, but he was curious to see this extravagant bathroom.

It wasn’t far from Ravenclaw Tower, so Seungmin easily slinked through the halls and muttered the password to the hidden stone door, pushing it open to reveal the biggest bathroom he’d ever seen. The white walls were perfectly tiled, and the floor was a gorgeous marble. Some stalls lined the side of the room, but the main attraction was the swimming pool sized tub in the middle of the floor.

Seungmin stood, unsure what to do. He decided on filling the tub, but maybe just sitting with his legs in it. He didn’t know how he felt about bathing so openly.

He walked over to a button-like switch on the floor, and gently stepped on it to turn on the massive taps, which began filling the tub. Seungmin awkwardly retreated to stand by the wall. Even in an empty room, he was a wallflower.

He zoned out slightly while watching he water pour in, his head filled with various facts he’d been working to memorize. It was like he was unable to rest.

He was alone with his thoughts and the water until a voice suddenly sounded from the entrance. 

“Hey there.”

Seungmin was a little startled at that, his heart skipping a beat. He looked over to the door to see whose voice it belonged to, even though he already knew. His heart skipped another beat.

“Oh, Hyunjin. Hey.”

The other boy stood frozen in the doorframe. He was wearing a white short-sleeved button up shirt (probably a part of his uniform that he didn’t take off after classes), and blue jeans that hugged his thighs tightly and loosened at his calves, both of his hands shoved into the front pockets. Seungmin thought to himself that he didn’t see the other wearing jeans often, and he quickly shut down the part of his brain that teased him with the thought that he really wouldn’t mind if he wore them more often.

The bathroom would’ve been eerily silent if it weren’t for the spurts of water still noisily gushing into the tub, so Seungmin gently walked over to the same button he had used to start it, pressing his foot to it once again to turn all the faucets. The tub was only a few inches full, and the room fell quiet. He just wanted to hear the other’s voice clearly, but he just mumbled something like, “we can’t both use it,” as an excuse instead. The Slytherin didn’t respond, so Seungmin spoke again.

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

Seungmin couldn’t fight the shaky, nervous laugh as the other so effortlessly responded to him. Hyunjin, not receiving an reply, answered Seungmin’s question anyway. “I was stressing out about exams last night to Minho hyung last night, and he recommended that I came here to run a bath or whatever. Apparently that shit’s calming.”

Seungmin cocked his head to the side questioningly. “How does Minho have the password?” Hyunjin rolled his eyes. “Quidditch captains get the same privileges as prefects, remember? So that includes this insanely big and complex bathroom, which I don’t see the point of, if I’m being honest.” Seungmin just let out an “oh,” and nodded.

“Your turn.”

“Believe it or not, literally for the same reason. Except it was Chan hyung.”

The weird nature of the situation was just starting to set in. Seungmin was leaning on the while-tiled wall, while Hyunjin stood with a straight back, filling the entrance. The room was still. The air was just a little too warm for it to be pleasant, and a few drips of water were echoing in the air.

Out of nowhere, Seungmin lowered his head and laughed, the sound bouncing around and room and causing Hyunjin’s eyebrow to shoot upwards. He really had to kick his habit of nervous laughter.

“It’s just... you keep popping up everywhere. It’s like I can’t escape you.”

Hyunjin’s brow gently furrowed with genuine confusion, and maybe a hint of sadness. “Do you want to?”

Seungmin almost got goosebumps. He shook his head and briefly looked up to meet Hyunjin’s eyes. “No, I just find it funny. Coincidental, maybe. You’re a real wild card, Mr. Hwang Hyunjin,” he finished, accidentally letting his voice fall to a mumble, and his head turning back down towards his feet.

“Says you,” Hyunjin almost immediately shot back.

Seungmin’s eyes widened against the grey marble floor. Seungmin wasn’t a wild card, he was the opposite. Calm, predictable, even praised for his sensibility as a child, but equally looked down upon for being boring. At least that’s what he had always assumed. His thoughts accumulated and he shook his head in disbelief.

“Says me?” He forced out, desperate to break the silence he had clearly allowed to be drawn for just a little too long.

In his peripheral, he saw Hyunjin move, taking a few delicate steps towards Seungmin’s slouched frame. He hoped that the Slytherin hadn’t noticed the nerves eating Seungmin from inside out. He stopped about an arms-length away and Seungmin couldn’t resist staring directly into his eyes, meeting an expression that defied everything Seungmin ever thought he knew about Hwang Hyunjin. 

“Yeah,” Hyunjin said bluntly. “Not wild, per say, but you’re the biggest mystery in this castle.” His voice was slightly softer when he finished, as if he was almost begging Seungmin to look even deeper into his glinting pupils, if that were even possible. The Ravenclaw fought the feeling of longing crawling inside him at the sound of Hyunjin’s hushed tone. It was intimidatingly familiar, and inexplicably comforting. He could probably listen to it until the end of time. Hyunjin took yet another step forward, his aura pinning Seungmin to the cool tiles before he mumbled one last thing.

“Because I can’t tell if you want me as badly as I want you.”

Seungmin could’ve sworn his breathing stopped.

Heart racing, his eyes desperately scanned Hyunjin’s face, tracing his features, trying to understand what the actual fuck was going on. Hyunjin’s eyes were on fire, but still soft and beautiful, his deep brown irises swirling enchantingly. Seungmin wanted to move, to touch him, to say something. He was burning to just do _something_ , but he was frozen.

Their breathing was getting heavier the longer they stood and stared at each other. Slowly, Hyunjin raised one shaky hand and brought it up to Seungmin’s face, hovering it right before touching his skin, as if asking permission. When Seungmin didn’t move it or himself away, Hyunjin allowed his fingers to graze Seungmin’s cheek, the slight touch shooting burning desire into Seungmin’s bones.

His fingers settled so his thumb was gently resting on his cheek, and the tips of his fingers were just getting tangled in Seungmin’s faded red hair. His thumb moved in a slow circle, mirroring the movement he had made on the back of Seungmin’s hand, which the younger had thought about every night before going to sleep.

The taller boy stepped even closer, shortening the distance between their bodies significantly. He carefully ran his fingers though Seungmin’s hair until it stopped to rest near the crook of his neck. Seungmin’s hands, which had been frozen at his sides as his brain was busy backfiring, curled into fists.

When Hyunjin’s other hand moved to the side of Seungmin’s neck, now holding the smaller boy with breathtaking control, Seungmin couldn’t stop one of his own hands from shooting up and grabbing his arm, nails pressing into the skin of Hyunjin’s forearm.

They were still for a moment. Seungmin couldn’t help himself any longer. When he spoke, his voice was shaky and recklessly needy.

“I do. I really fucking do.”

Seungmin was the first to move, hands shooting up to gently grasp the sides of Hyunjin’s face, pulling himself up and desperately pressing their lips together.

Hyunjin’s hands immediately fell from Seungmin’s hair and firmly grasped at his waist, pulling him close enough for their bodies to be touching. The kiss is quick- a rushed connection- but when they parted, their breath was shaking as though they had both ran out of oxygen and were hungrily drinking it back in gulps.

Their time apart was short, but just long enough for Hyunjin’s eyes to dart down to Seungmin’s lips, and for Seungmin to tug Hyunjin’s long dark bangs away from his eyes. Their expressions said everything for them.

Hyunjin, with his fingers still firmly grasping Seungmin’s waist, was the first to pull their bodies together again. Their heads naturally tilted to fit together, and their lips met again, but this time, with a newfound intensity.

Hyunjin hungrily latched onto Seungmin’s bottom lip, his clearly experienced tongue swiping along the bottom entrance of Seungmin’s mouth, making the younger release an embarrassing whine as he pulled Hyunjin’s soft hair in content.

At that, Hyunjin breathed a rough moan into Seungmin’s mouth, pushing him over the edge of reason and into pure need. He pulled Hyunjin’s hair once more to usher another moan that gave him goosebumps, before moving his hands to the nape of the other’s neck, his fingertips collecting the drops of cold sweat tinging his hot skin.

Hyunjin’s hands wandered along the hem of Seungmin’s thin white shirt, slowly sliding under it and onto the small of his back, his touch so hot it felt like ice was burning into Seungmin’s skin. Simultaneously, he pushed their thighs together, the pressure so intimate it clouded Seungmin’s eyes.

Seungmin’s back gently arched, and Hyunjin suddenly pushed him back against the wall, pinning him and taking full control, one of his hands moving up to roughly tilt Seungmin’s chin upwards. “Oh fuck,” the younger cursed breathlessly between a hungry kiss as he surrendered all control without a second thought, Hyunjin humming brokenly in content at his exclamation. Seungmin’s hands moved to press firmly against Hyunjin’s chest, toying with the buttons of his shirt and allowing his fingers to trace shapes against his bare chest in the gaps, causing a shutter to rush down Hyunjin’s spine as he moaned yet again. “Baby, god, you’re so hot.”

Seungmin gasped at the pet name, his mind and body in overdrive, as he continued to desperately chase the feeling of Hyunjin’s lips on his own, the feeling of Hyunjin’s tongue sliding across his own, and the feeling of Hyunjin’s electric touch surging into his heart.

They made out just like that against the bathroom wall for what felt like eternity, so far from prying eyes that it made it feel as though time had stopped.

When their mouths gently parted, Seungmin’s eyes didn’t open right away, but when they did he could see how absolutely wrecked Hyunjin was. His breathing was uneven and his shirt’s first few buttons were undone. The Slytherin took a step back, pushing his hair up, neither of them saying anything.

What Seungmin wasn’t expecting was for Hyunjin to stumble out of the bathroom without saying a word, leaving him alone, flustered, and confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... y'all good?
> 
> fun fact I wrote this on my phone during the flight to college lol, and the dude sat behind me most definitely saw my phone bc when I was getting up from my seat he was looking at me in fear. that being said, I'm going to be busier now so I want to wrap this up soon, and I'll try to have that not take too long.
> 
> let me know what u think in a comment, and come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	7. Chapter 7

Seungmin spent winter break avoiding Hyunjin.

The castle was empty, almost eerily so. While pushing past slow first years as Seungmin rushed to class during the semester pissed him off, it at least filled the stone halls. Sounds echoed more acutely, and the cold winds from the entrance of the new year lashed at skin. It was the first winter that Seungmin didn’t fly back to Korea, and while he wasn’t necessarily missing his family to the point where he felt crushed by this fact, it still hurt knowing that he was one of only a handful of students not in the comfort of their childhood home.

It also meant being without his friends for two weeks. Changbin, Jeongin, and Woojin returned to their respective Korean hometowns, while Chan and Felix took the same flight to Sydney. Jisung joined his family on an overseas trip, which the boy clearly would’ve been more excited for if it hadn’t meant leaving Minho’s side for a whole fortnight. Minho had decided to stay at Hogwarts, which Seungmin knew probably meant his extensive family drama had been acting up again, something the older did everything in his power to avoid.

Seungmin had only realized Hyunjin wasn’t traveling home when he saw the Slytherin tell his friends goodbye without himself boarding the train back to London with all the other students leaving for the break.

Avoiding Hwang Hyunjin should qualify as an Olympic sport. Seungmin had been dodging the other ever since _that_ night, and it was no different on the train platform. The Ravenclaw hugged Jeongin goodbye and stepped back to wave to them all sitting in their seats, and from the corner of his eye, he felt a pair of eyes on him. A part of him wanted to meet his gaze, to feel the other’s pupils burrow deep within his own, just to remember how it felt that night when his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest.

Instead, he finished his curt wave with a small smile, and turned on his heels as quickly as he could and sped in Minho’s general direction, not really caring that the speed of his avoidance was glaringly obvious. Minho was stood near a pillar at the station, his arms wrapped tightly around Jisung’s waist. Seungmin slowed, hoping not to awkwardly intrude on the couple. He loitered around the area until Minho pressed one last kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, who he then detached from his grasp. Jisung unwillingly grabbed his duffle bag and stepped away, shooting a smile and a small farewell in Seungmin’s direction before gently jogging onto the train.

Minho’s eyes stayed on Jisung’s frame momentarily, before taking a few steps towards Seungmin and producing a knowing expression. “Let’s go back to the castle together,” Minho offered, and they began making their way out of the station. Jisung had probably told Minho everything, because Seungmin tells Jisung everything.

The day after the kiss, Jisung confronted Seungmin about being unusually quiet at lunch. The Ravenclaw surrendered the information pretty easily, since if he didn’t, it would probably break him. As the story progressed, Jisung’s expressions changed like the tide, a transformation from excitement at the person Seungmin had a glaring crush on finally making a move, to angry confusion at the sudden abandonment. They tried to talk about what it could mean, but Seungmin was hurt, obviously. He excused himself before he got too into his own head, tripping over infinite dead-end interpretations.

The walk back to the castle was quiet until Minho spoke up. “Do you hate him for what he did?” Seungmin didn’t speak, but just shook his head as a firm ‘no’, trying to hide the fact that his heart had started to race at the mention of him. Minho nodded and didn’t say more, simply shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

At first, when he and Hyunjin would happen by each other in the hallway, they would both pass without any word or action. Soon, however, Seungmin noticed glances being thrown his way, which he firmly ignored. Before long, Hyunjin would wave or even mumble “good morning”. Seungmin ignored these too. He was trying to block out every element of him. He sat alone at meals, and stayed in the Ravenclaw common room during most of his time spent inside the castle.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Hyunjin, because he did. He was just scared. He was scared that when he asked for the truth, it would be that it had all been a mistake, that the feelings he’d built up were founded on nothing. He’d been waiting it anyways, everything had always seemed far too good to be true. He never felt like he deserved someone like Hyunjin in his life. Instead of facing his ultimate fear, Seungmin remained in his safety zone of uncertainty, because truth meant needing to be brave.

They finally spoke on the Friday before break ended. Seungmin was eating dinner in the great hall, absent-mindedly playing a game on his phone because he really had nothing else to do. Ravenclaw’s table was even emptier than it had been the whole week, as Seungmin was eating a little later than usual. Even so, when he saw a figure occupy the space across from him in his peripheral, he didn’t look up, lacking the energy to interact socially. A moment barely passed before he heard a painfully familiar voice.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

Seungmin let his eyes dance from his phone to his plate and to anything else that wasn’t the boy sitting in front of him. He didn’t say anything.

“Seungmin, please, at least look at me.”

The honeyed sound of his name leaving Hyunjin’s lips made him crack. He locked his phone and placed it balancing on his thigh, and let his gaze make contact. Hyunjin’s eyes were dark, serious, and beautiful. Seungmin had missed this view.

Minho hadn’t come along that night, going out with some of his seventh year friends, leaving Hyunjin available to confront Seungmin about whatever the hell had happened between them. Seungmin pushed his plate far to the right, leaving an open space for them to clear the heavy air.

“Explain yourself,” Seungmin mumbled, his eyes falling to his own fiddling hands resting on the dark wood. Those two words were all he could muster. He heard Hyunjin swallow nervously, and he could hear the way the other’s foot was tapping the ground.

He didn’t really know what he was expecting for an answer.

“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin said quietly, pained. The corners of his mouth weren’t upturned to their usual enchanting smile, and he was clearly struggling to keep his eyes on Seungmin.

“I don’t know why I did what I did, I really wish I knew,” he continued, slightly tripping over his own tongue. At this point Seungmin wasn’t sure what part of that night he was talking about. “It was a mistake,” Hyunjin finished.

“The kiss or afterwards?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Tell me.”

“The latter, but maybe both. I don’t know, I’m sorry. Just please don’t cut me out of your life.”

Hyunjin’s stumbling words were ringing in Seungmin’s ears. ‘Maybe both’. Seungmin would agree with that. “Okay,” he said quietly, looking Hyunjin in the eye.

The Slytherin’s foot stopped tapping. “What are we?” He asked, his voice quiet but still starkly audible in the echoing emptiness of the great hall. Seungmin felt his heart squeeze. He didn’t know the answer, his fresh wounds still bleeding. “Were we ever anything to begin with?” He mustered in response, seeing the beautiful boy in front of him suddenly drop his head.

Hyunjin’s hair fell messily in front of his face, without him making and attempt to fix it. His mouth formed one last question.

“Do you hate me?” He asked meekly, echoing Minho. Seungmin’s answer was the same.

“No, of course not.”

-

Seungmin met Jisung at Hogsmeade station on Sunday night. He was a little surprised when Jisung had messaged him and not Minho asking for accompaniment and help carrying his baggage back to the castle, but it warmed his heart and reminded him that his best friend was, in fact, his best friend.

“Sup loser,” was Jisung’s greeting as he stepped off the train and onto the platform, immediately dumping a duffle into Seungmin’s unprepared arms, which pulled him slightly towards the ground before he could properly hold onto the bag. “Good to see you’ve stayed exactly the fucking same,” Seungmin cursed jokingly, walking across the platform to the exit with Jisung by his side.

They reached the carriages, and began their ride to the castle. Only a few other students had come back on the train Jisung had taken, as it was the last of three. The rest of the guys had gotten back already, either earlier that day or Saturday, and the back-to-school feast was beginning within the hour. The night air was quiet as they sat in a carriage on their own.

“So you and Hyunjin finally talked?” Jisung asked, facing out the window, legs stretched out on the seats opposite him. Seungmin snapped to look at him. He hadn’t spoken of that conversation with anyone. Jisung turned to look at him and easily read his expression. “Oh, Minho told me about it,” he said. Hyunjin must’ve gone to him afterwards.

Jisung looked back out the window. “Just so you know, he really likes you. I don’t know why he did what he did, but love controls people in weird ways.”

Love. That word rang in Seungmin’s head until they reached the castle.

Jisung rushed to dump his bag in the Slytherin common room, and the two made their way to the great hall.

Over the dinner feast, professors read through their announcements for the upcoming semester. Care for magical creatures classes were to be taught by a substitute for the following four weeks, and charms classes were going to be extended and less frequent. Then, the headmistress rose to stand at the podium. Seungmin had finished his food a while back, and was gently tracing his finger along the rim of his half-empty water glass. Changbin was sat directly on his right, and had been whispering life updates to Seungmin over the announcements, but stopped when she began to speak.

Her voice rang clearly in the long room as she announced that the annual Yule Ball was taking place in almost two weeks on the Friday evening. The ball was adapted from older Hogwarts tradition after the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued in practice. It was much more formalized than the drunken slur that was Halloween night, and was a time for students to dress up and awkwardly ask their crushes to dance with them.

If he was totally honest, Seungmin had forgotten about the whole thing. He’d always gone with his friends- apart from fourth year, when he’d asked a girl he had a small crush on- but he had never really enjoyed it much. It was exciting to put on a suit and spend a night singing along to songs he barely knew, but it could sometimes be more tiring than fun, and that night was the first time he’d thought about it all year.

However, one image flashed in his mind and tortured him the entire dinner and into the night.

Seungmin was still up at 2AM, which was typical, but this time he was just staring intently into the fire, head in hands. His thoughts were racing and painting unwanted details into his fantasy:

Hyunjin’s warm hands on Seungmin’s waist, his face nuzzled into the taller’s chest as they swayed, a slow song playing as he felt their hearts beat together-

Seungmin shook his head as if he was trying to make these thoughts somehow tumble out and leave him in peace, but they became stronger. The smell of Hyunjin’s cologne radiating off his bare skin, him pulling Seungmin’s tie off hungrily, their lips being able to meet again.

“Boy problems?”

Changbin’s typically rough voice gently floated into the room, and snapped Seungmin back into reality. He lifted his head from his palms and turned his head slightly to face his housemate, who was stood at the bottom of the stairs. Seungmin must’ve been too zoned out to hear the footsteps coming down. He didn’t say a word, and slumped back in the armchair he was sat in. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Changbin continued through the silence, leaning against the wall, not moving from his place.

Seungmin let out a frustrated groan. “Bin, I don’t know what’s happening to me.” Seungmin rarely called Changbin by the nickname Felix had come up with, but it just seemed to slip out. Changbin stood straight again and paced over to sit on a sofa adjacent to Seungmin’s.

“I obviously don’t know exactly what’s going on, since you don’t really talk about it with me, which is fine, I get it. You were hurt, but not enough to stop you from wanting him, right?”

The last few words were meaningfully slow. Seungmin half-nodded his head, stopping his gaze on the ugly blue rug underfoot, worried that if he looked Changbin in the eye, this conversation would feel too personal. He was practically on the brink of tears.

“You’re not stupid or naive or irrational. I don’t know how you’re feeling but you're obviously not fine, so just remember that you’re none of those things.”

Seungmin looked up. “I just don’t know if he-”

The words “loves me” died in his throat. His eyes were clearly watering now. He stood up and took a stride towards Changbin, who hid any surprise he had well, and let the younger sit down by him on the couch, positioned in a way that Seungmin’s body was cuddled affectionately against Changbin’s right side. The older boy’s hand ran through Seungmin’s faded red hair. “It doesn’t matter what he feels. Whatever happens will happen. You’re strong enough to get through anything,” Changbin softly muttered.

“He made me happy,” Seungmin whispered, somehow still managing to fight back the threat of tears. “He made me happy,” he repeated, quieter, Changbin’s hand still bracing his heavy head.

“it’s okay to cry. Some people are worth the tears.”

Seungmin nodded, and with the motion, a pair splashed onto the bridge of his nose. He was worth it, he thought. Maybe it was irrational, maybe it was predictable, but he was seventeen and lost.

His broken compass pointed one way.

-

“Damn, I look good. Seungmin, look at how good I look.”

Reluctantly Seungmin lent a glance to the mirror of the bathroom sink Jisung was stood proudly in front of, seeing the reflection of the other boy grinning heartily. The two of them had been on their way to the dance, when Jisung had grabbed Seungmin’s arm and dragged him into a bathroom so he could check his appearance one last time, for Minho’s sake of course.

Seungmin didn’t have a problem with his best friend’s relationship. Seeing two people he cared about being happy together was fulfilling, but Seungmin would be lying through his teeth if he said that he didn’t feel his guts twist in envy when he saw them together, or from the way Jisung found a way to dotingly mention his boyfriend in any conversation.

To Jisung’s delight, Seungmin reassured him that yes, he looked hot, and that yes, Minho will be floored.

He also caught himself in the mirror’s view, leaning against the door of one of the stalls. He wasn’t going to lie, he looked good too. Jisung’s suit was a dark red that complimented his tanned skin and grey shirt, while Seungmin had opted for the classic monochrome look. He straightened out his thin black tie and finger combed his hair to make it lay flat. The red color was fading, and he made a mental note to ask Jeongin to re-dye it for him again.

Once Jisung was satisfied with his appearance, the two finally made their way to the great hall, which had been cleared and used as the venue. They were a little late, so the long room was already packed with well-dressed teenagers dancing to the music playing, some just swaying, while others went harder.

Jisung looked like a confused squirrel as he whipped his head around, looking for Minho and the rest of their friends. When he finally set off in a direction, Seungmin just followed him. Minho was with Chan, Woojin, and Jeongin, all of them clustered near the packed center of the hall. Jeongin’s face lit up when he saw Seungmin push his way into their view, and the Hufflepuff shuffled his way over to talk with him.

“You look so good hyung!” Jeongin exclaimed, wide-eyed and looking over the slightly-taller boy. Seungmin smiled a little in surprise. He had been hyping himself up, but it felt good to have his friend spill a compliment, and it made him feel even more confident. His black slacks felt even better fitted on his thighs, and he felt like his waist was looking nicer than usual- he had been watching his weight. “Thanks,” Seungmin bashfully replied. “You look cute, yellow really is your color,” he continued, referencing Jeongin’s canary yellow bowtie the fifth-year had picked out to go with his blue jacket.

He hadn’t meant to, but as Jeongin was starting up a conversation over the sound of the edm track playing, Seungmin’s gaze left the other boy and floated around the room.

“Looking for someone?”

Jeongin’s smug voice pulled Seungmin back to the other boy, and the Ravenclaw rolled his eyes at the equally smug face face boring into him. He shook his head in attempt to deny what what obviously true, but Jeongin wasn’t just going to let him continue their conversation.

“Last I saw him, he was by the snack table,” the Hufflepuff hinted not-so-nonchalantly. “On an unrelated note, they have pretzels, I know those are your favorite. You should go grab a handful before they’re gone, you know how teenagers are with food,” he continued, a determined spark in his narrow eyes.

Before Seungmin could even pretend that he wasn’t immediately trying to plan his way to wherever Hyunjin would be, Jeongin had spun on his heels and made his way to Woojin, joining the older Hufflepuff in belting out a lyric of the song that just switched on, as Chan watched on in second-hand embarrassment.

Seungmin was still for a second before he started wading through the crowd once again.

The table turned out to be in the corner of the room, and as he approached it, he felt an inexplicable anxiety building in his stomach. That was a lie, he told himself, as it was not at all inexplicable.

He didn’t see the Slytherin at first, thinking that he’d probably moved on to another place in the room, and Seungmin decided he should just go find his friends instead, wondering where Felix might be. As he turned around, though, he saw the tall figure he’d been searching for.

Hyunjin was wearing pretty much the same outfit as Seungmin, it wasn’t as though it was all that unique. What Seungmin did have to say, however, (and he might’ve been a little biased here), was that Hyunjin was breathtaking in a way that himself and no other human being could ever compare. His long legs were almost extended by the pair slim black dress pants, contrasted with a crisp white shirt and silky black tie, and his recently-trimmed hair was grazing his eyes.

Seungmin had taught himself how to not stare, so his trained gaze swept over the room as he observed the intricate beauty of the other boy. Hyunjin was in a loud circle of socialization, full of other gorgeous upperclassmen. The only person Seungmin was even slightly familiar with was Chaeyoung, standing an arms-length away from Hyunjin. He seemed absorbed in whatever she was so animatedly talking about, punctuating her speech with gestures and looking at him with bright eyes.

Seungmin’s hand involuntarily curled into a fist, and he wanted to use it to punch himself for being so possessive. As the music changed to some rap song with boosted bass, he made his way past the group as inconspicuously as he could. He could fight for Hyunjin’s attention, to steal him away for conversation and maybe even- and his heart raced at this thought- a dance. At that, he rolled his eyes. “Dumbass,” Seungmin muttered to himself. Because that’s what he was.

He walked to the fringe of the crowd, too lazy to look for his friends. He took off his jacket, and held it in his arms as he leaned back on the wall, the marble cool against his back. The lighting was suddenly turned a little darker, drawing shadows across the ground of the hall. He had yet to have a good time that night, but to be fair, that was his own fault. It was his own fault for falling in love, for being hung up on fantasies, for being possessive over someone that wasn’t his. The flickering images he had conjured were still flashing in his mind, but he decided to be realistic with himself.

“I thought you said you’d stop avoiding me.”

Seungmin’s breath got caught as he practically experienced an acute heart attack at the suddenness of Hyunjin’s presence.

The Slytherin had walked up and stopped in front of Seungmin, a weak yet still beautiful smile on his face. Seungmin let himself look at the other briefly before looking away, back into the crowd, scrambling to form a smooth response.

“I wasn’t,” he quickly rolled off his tongue, but Hyunjin cocked his head knowingly. “I saw you standing alone earlier. I was about to try to break away from Chae to talk to you, but you rushed away so quickly I lost track of you.”

A nervous lump formed in Seungmin’s throat. Unless he was lying, Hyunjin really did want to talk to him. What a concept.

“Well you found me now, sorry. How’s your night?” Seungmin scrambled, doing his best to not look nervous by looking the other in the eye and flashing a smile. Hyunjin’s smile widened. “It’s going alright, better now that I’m talking to you.” Seungmin gagged, half as a caricature response to the corny response, and half in genuine panic. This guy’s flirting was no joke. “That’s so cheesy that I can’t believe you actually let it leave your lips.” Seungmin laughed to a wincing Hyunjin. “I know, but I wanted to try it out.”

The two fell into comfortable conversation over the loud music, finally able to catch up about their lives since they had stopped talking. At some point, Seungmin was mid-sentence when the music switched, and the slow tune was so familiar it made his eyes widen.

“Oh my god, this is-“

“Oh shit! I forgot I requested this song earlier. It’s been a while. But yeah, here’s Day6, for you.”

Seungmin closed his eyes he absorbed himself in the song by his favorite band, which he had mentioned to the Slytherin months back. He opened his eyes again and looked at the other.

“You remembered.”

“Yeah, duh. I like them a lot. They remind me of home, and you. Mostly you.”

Before Seungmin could ground himself after those few words, Hyunjin stretched out a hand.

“May I have this dance?”

Seungmin felt like he could melt. The corners of Hyunjin’s mouth were curled into a gentle yet powerful smile, and behind his black hair, his eyes were gorgeously glinting the hints of light in the dark room. Seungmin nodded, grabbing Hyunjin’s familiarly warm hand, heart beating out of his chest.

He lost track of his heart rate as Hyunjin led him into the crowd. A year back, no matter his understanding of his sexuality, he would’ve never slow danced with another guy, especially not in front of the entire student body, even though it was hard to see through the darkness. Now, his pure unfiltered happiness and desire to be with this one person was overriding any such feeling, and anyways, Jisung’s very public displays of affection with Minho taught him to not care. Maybe he’ll regret this, but the feeling of Hyunjin’s hands traveling to his waist were clouding any ounce of shame.

And so they danced, Hyunjin’s hands firmly grasping Seungmin’s waist and leading him in their gentle swaying, while Seungmin tried to keep his hands from shaking and they gripped at the Slytherin’s shoulders. Hyunjin kept their bodies close, their body heat mixing and breathing aligning.

Hyunjin leaned in slightly, initially making Seungmin think the other was attempting to rest his chin on his shoulder, but instead he breathed a hushed whisper into Seungmin’s unsuspecting ear.

“You look so pretty tonight.”

Seungmin fought back his intense blush by pushing his head into Hyunjin’s chest, the other boy’s hand traveling up his back as he breathed in the faint cologne he had been dreaming of.

“I missed you.”

Now it was Hyunjin’s turn to forget how to breathe.

“I missed you too.”

The song ran out, switching to one with a louder and more aggressive beat, but the two didn’t let go of each other.

The next few minutes brought the two even closer, bodies now touching, mirroring the dozens of couples surrounding them. Both of them ditched their jackets by the wall, leaving only thin fabric between their touches. They both fought back little gasps when their thighs brushed together a little too strongly.

Something Seungmin learnt about Hyunjin was that had a skill of keeping strong eye contact through anything, no matter whether they were dancing, or whether their faces were only a few inches apart. This wasn’t a big problem, apart from the fact that it made Seungmin really, really want to kiss him.

Before he could pull the other’s face closer, Hyunjin whispered into his ear again, his voice muffled by the music.

“Come with me.”

Seungmin ignored his goosebumps as best as he could and let himself be lead out of the room. Before he had a chance to catch his breath and recover his ringing ears, Hyunjin was already pushing him lightly into the wall of the empty corridor.

They wasted no time in closing the short gap separating their lips. It was quick, but the connection made Seungmin’s hands fly to the back of Hyunjin’s neck.

Hyunjin pulled away, but kept his face close in front of Seungmin’s own. He spoke in a low voice as his eyes scanned Seungmin’s pupils.

“Do you remember what I said that night?”

Seungmin’s mind blanked. Hyunjin continued.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me the way I wanted you. You said you did, but I’m not sure anymore.” The tall boy inhaled softly as he looked down at their feet, which were slotted together on the stone floor. “You said you don’t hate me, but I fucked up. I never approached the way I felt about you the right way, for so long. I ran away because I was scared to get any closer to you, because getting too close meant losing you would tear me apart even more.”

Seungmin was still silent, processing. The other’s voice was quieter now.

“I thought I did lose you then, it hurt so badly, more than you can imagine.”

“I can imagine, it hurt me too. I can’t be without you, I guess,” Seungmin murmured. Hyunjin nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

And with that, Seungmin let himself be kissed again, a deep, long kiss with Hyunjin holding his face gently.

-

Seungmin wasn’t sure what time it was that Hyunjin began leading him down the stairs, but he remembered the way the Slytherin’s voice sounded when he whispered “my room’s close,” and felt himself sign his heart and soul away. Hyunjin was leading him by the hand, the way he’s dragged his heart away so many times before.

Hyunjin stopped in front of a dark steel door, and muttered a password, to which it slowly opened, the two boys squeezing into the gap as soon as they could.

Hyunjin led Seungmin through a door into what must’ve been his dorm room, somehow without running into a single other soul. The older hit one of the switches on the wall, turning on a small lamp that cast a warm yet meager light across the small room.

Instinctually, the two made their way to Hyunjin’s bed, which is what Seungmin determined by the family photo propped up on the desk next to it. The Ravenclaw let himself lay back gently as Hyunjin hovered gently over him, his arm pushing into the sheets by Seungmin’s head and propping his body up. They kissed with a new gentleness, the intimately quiet setting helping the two zone in on each other’s breathing.

Seungmin realized something that made him gently push the Slytherin up, who gave him a panicked and confused look, worried he had done something wrong. Seungmin smirked slightly at the other’s caution as he pointed to the other side of the room, towards the bed pushed against the opposite wall.

“What about your roommate?” Hyunjin’s face released the clear worry he was in beforehand, as he rolled his eyes. “Oh, him? He’s uh, spending the night with his girlfriend. He made it very clear to me he wasn’t coming back tonight.” Seungmin’s eyes widened, amused, before he reached up and tangled his fingers in Hyunjin’s soft black locks and pulled his face towards his own again.

They made out less intensely than they had the first time, but with more longing. Hyunjin pulled off his own tie, then Seungmin’s, “for comfort,” he murmured before gently pressing their lips together again. Seungmin let his hands tamely explore the other, tracing up and down his his spine over his shirt while Hyunjin toyed with the hem of Seungmin’s, as he had the last time.

At some point, Hyunjin pulled away and sat up, Seungmin following in suit, letting their bodies lightly touch.

“You okay?” Seungmin asked, worried. Hyunjin nodded. “Yeah, sorry, this is just a little overwhelming.” Seungmin nodded gently, and allowed Hyunjin’s head to fall onto his shoulder. “I never thought I’d have someone like you. People love the idea of me, but they leave as soon as I open up. You’re so wonderful,” Hyunjin rambled, muttering into Seungmin, his hot breathing scorching his skin.

Hyunjin pressed what felt like a butterfly kiss to Seungmin’s collar, and the younger responded with a little intake a breath and his hand stroking through the other boy’s messy hair.

“You’re wonderful too, you know.”

Seungmin would’ve continued, but he felt his phone buzz a few times in his pocket, and decided it would be a good idea to check it.

Changbin: where r u

Changbin: we’re about to leave

Changbin: youre not here are u…

Changbin: if youre not in bed when I get back im gonna worry

Seungmin sighed. “I should go back.” Hyunjin whined quietly, making Seungmin’s brain backfire a little. Hyunjin slightly loosened his grip, but Seungmin still didn’t move.

“I kinda don’t want to leave though.”

“You can stay.”

Seungmin wanted to talk about what the fuck had happened that night, his mind buzzing with feelings of confusing ecstasy as Hyunjin’s frame was leaning so delicately into him. Hyunjin picked his head up to look at the other during the pause, and Seungmin must’ve been wearing his thoughts on his expression. “We can talk about everything, if you want.”

Seungmin stayed quiet for a second before exhaling lightly. “I need time to think.”

Hyunjin nodded with a gentle smile, Seungmin hoping it wasn’t masking some sort of disappointment. “I understand. The invitation stands though.”

Seungmin leaned forward to give the other a chaste kiss.

“I’ll stay for a little while.”

With a text sent to an understanding Changbin, Seungmin found himself laying on top of Hyunjin’s white sheets, curled into the other.

Like once before, he drifted to sleep to the rhythm of Hyunjin’s breathing.

Seungmin woke up at some time in the very early morning, carefully removed himself from the sleeping boy next to him, and roamed the empty halls back to his dorm.

He couldn’t shake the empty feeling of his bed as he went to sleep, and the way his sheets didn’t have the smell of Hyunjin clinging to them, the way the thought of him was clinging to his mind.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *rides in on a hoverboard shooting finger guns, chewing gum by nct dream blasting in the background*
> 
> sup.
> 
> so... perhaps it's been two months since the last chapter. I started college abroad so life has been lowkey hectic, but I wrote when I could and there 5.5k words were born. Thank you so much for your patience, and for the kindness in the comments. It was a little harder to write and plan out, so I'm hoping the storyline and scene changes and dialogue all make sense and are fulfilling, and overall I hope you like this chapter!! Please let me know of any mistakes, and feel free to leave a comment! I love reading them.
> 
> ALSO. I am you was the comeback of the century and is my fav album of the I am: trilogy. I am down to discuss that musical masterpiece anytime. (if anyone cares, hero's soup, I am you, and my side are my fav tracks, in that order.)
> 
> come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc!!](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter. thank u so much in advance for reading <3

The feeling of longing hadn’t disappeared by the time Seungmin woke up.

He groaned, and nearly buried his head under the covers again before checking his phone and seeing he only had an half hour before they’d stop serving breakfast. Under the time were a string of text notifications from Jisung, ranging from being sent between various times the previous night to some that morning. The most recent ones had been sent 20 minutes before he’d woken up.

Jisung: seungmin

Jisung: kim seungmin

Jisung: spill everything pls

Jisung: stop ignoring me

Jisung: i know for a FACT you didn’t go straight back to your dorm last night

Jisung: did u guys finally hook up

Jisung: omg get up i’m getting gray hairs

Jisung: at least come down and eat jfc

Seungmin rolled his eyes and wanted to throw his phone back onto his bedside table, but felt obliged to respond.

Seungmin: nothing happened.

That was a damn lie and he knew Jisung would see right through it, but he really wasn’t in the mood to explain the events and nuances of emotions he experienced the previous night through text.

He turned onto his stomach, his sweatpants uncomfortably riding up his legs at the awkward position. Subconsciously, Seungmin found himself swiping back from his and Jisung’s text conversation, and pushed the third name down. There weren’t any new notifications from Hyunjin, but Seungmin just wanted to double check. Maybe he’s forgotten to respond to something, or maybe his alerts fucked up.

Nothing.

Seungmin wasn’t really sure what he was expecting anyways. A good morning message? Some sort of confession?

He slid his phone across his desk that was adjacent to his bed and then rolled out of it without much elegance. He made his bed, as he always had to do to feel human, and pulled on whatever shirt was on the first hanger in his closet and the jeans he wore two days prior that he still hadn’t moved from the back of his chair, and the hoodie he wore the night he fell asleep in Hyunjin’s lap in the common room. He wanted to kick himself for being so head over heels.

It took about ten seconds from the time Seungmin slid onto the end of the bench at Ravenclaw’s emptying dining table for Jisung to suddenly appear on the seat opposite to him.

“Look who decided to show up.”

“Hey Jisung.” Seungmin reached over to grab a bread roll, and saw one of Jisung’s brows shoot up expectantly.

“So?”

Seungmin knew exactly what Jisung wanted from him, but avoidance was his go-to tactic.

“What?” Seungmin asked while looking down at his food. 

Jisung sighed. “You’re fucking useless. So, what happened last night?” Seungmin poured himself a glass of water. “With Hyunjin?”

Jisung sighed again. “Yes, with Hyunjin. Of course with Hyunjin. Everyone saw you two closer than anyone else in that room. Also Changbin said you weren’t there by the time he came back.”

With the sudden return of memories of how intimate him and Hyunjin had been the night before, Seungmin couldn’t stop but cringe at how outwardly he had acted. But then again, he really can’t control himself around Hyunjin, hence the rollercoaster he’d been riding the whole year. Jisung read his expression, as he always had.

“It’s fine, nobody cares.”

Seungmin didn’t say anything.

“Look, I don’t know what exactly you’re worried about right now, but everything’s okay, nobody really cares. Nobody was paying much attention to you, and Changbin only let me know in case you were in trouble, which you obviously weren’t. And nobody cares that you’re gay.”

On instinct, Seungmin opened his mouth to protest, but the words he was so used to saying died in his mouth. All the times he shot back at people, his friends, his siblings, saying “I’m not gay” flashed through his mind.

He felt a hand cover his own. “You okay?” Jisung asked, his expression concerned that he’d said something wrong. Seungmin gave him a smile. “Yes. Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. It’s just sort of weird to hear, but it’s true.” The other boy gave an understanding nod. “I know what you mean.” Seungmin suddenly thought of something and narrowed his eyes at Jisung.

“Wait. You never really came out to me, did you?”

“Huh, you’re right actually. I just started talking about boys all the time.” Jisung responded, head cocked. The Ravenclaw nodded, allowing a small smile. “Everybody has their own journey.” Jisung continued, squeezing Seungmin’s hand lightly.

“Anyways. You and your boyfriend. Spill.” Jisung steered the conversation right back to the first point.

Seungmin sighed. “Not my boyfriend.” Jisung rolled his eyes. “He practically is already.”

“He wanted to talk about it last night”

“And...?”

“And I said I needed to think about it”

Jisung jokingly pulled both his hands up to his hair and made an exasperated expression. “What is there to think about? You like him, he likes you. He clearly makes you happy and, don’t tell him I said this, but he’s gorgeous, like, such a catch.”

He set both hands down firmly on the wooden table and leaned forward.

“Seems like a no-brainer to me.”

Seungmin took an aggressive sip of water.

“I just, I don’t know. I’m scared of getting hurt or hurting him. Maybe he doesn’t like me as much as I like him.”

Jisung smirked. “After all the action you’ve been getting, you’re still worried about whether or not he likes you?”

Seungmin rolled his eyes.

“And you should’ve at least put some concealer on your neck,” Jisung indicated to the right side of Seungmin’s neck. “It’s really obvious. You could’ve asked me if you didn’t have any.” Seungmin instinctively slapped his hand onto his neck even though he wasn’t entirely sure what Jisung was talking about. He felt a slight pain, and pressed his fingers in slightly, almost gasping when he realized it was a bruise.

He dragged his fingers across the love-bite as Jisung raised an eyebrow at him. “Ah, it’s a surprise.” Seungmin nodded. he must’ve somehow missed Hyunjin doing more than light kisses on his neck the last night. he pulled out his phone and opened the front camera, observing just how dark purple the mark was.

“I think he likes you a lot dude.”

“A hickey doesn’t mean he likes me.”

“No, but they way he looks at you does, the way he talks about you.” Jisung noticed Seungmin’s expression change, as if his heart was beating quicker now. “Yeah, he doesn’t shut up about you.” Jisung sat up straight and spoke firmly.

“So go for it.”

-

Hogsmeade that Saturday was beautiful. While it wasn’t snowing as it usually was mid-January, the village was bustling and shops were still decorated for Christmas. Shopfronts were enhanced to exude red and green sparkles, posters were moving as always but with holiday messaging, and music was amplified across the village.

“Seungmin! Is this the place that you mentioned makes good coffee a few weeks back?”

Chan’s voice beckoned from a few meters ahead of him as Seungmin snapped out of his thoughts. He walked forward to meet the older boy, who was stood outside a bookshop Seungmin frequented.

The two had bumped into each other in the corridor off the great hall after Seungmin had finished talking to Jisung over breakfast. Chan had insisted that Seungmin should spend the afternoon with him in Hogsmeade since they’d hardly had time to see each other, to which Seungmin happily obliged. He needed to clear his head.

“Yeah, this place is great. Changbin showed it to me last year. Good books. Good coffee.” Chan grinned. “Then we’re going in.”

Chan ordered an americano, and Seungmin a cappuccino. He didn’t know how or why Chan drank coffee that didn’t have milk in it. They sat on opposite sides of a small table by the window, Seungmin’s back to a bookshelf. Chan kept his coat on, unzipped, because it was a little cold inside. Seungmin cracked a joke about Chan being a cold-susceptible Australian as their coffees floated over to their table.

“You must’ve gotten your grades back by now, right?” Chan asked as he raised the mug to his lips, blond hair peeking out beneath the black beanie he was wearing. Seungmin nodded as he blew on his steaming coffee. “Yeah, a few days back in classes.” Chan set his mug down again. “And?” Seungmin shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but his lips turned to a small smile. Chan expectantly raised an eyebrow. “They were actually pretty good, I’m happy,” Seungmin said. “Of course they were good,” Chan smiled. “I’m proud of you. Was your potions grade better? I know you were worried about it.”

“I… got an A,” Seungmin said sheepishly. Chan’s eyes smiled they way they always did when his friends, especially those in years under him, accomplished something. Chan was like Seungmin’s Hogwarts uncle.

“That’s amazing!” The older boy gushed as Seungmin blushed, gently sipping at the layer cappuccino foam. “Looks like those tutoring sessions paid off for more than just that thing on your neck, eh?” Chan smirked, taking another sip while Seungmin sputtered coffee foam all over his side of the table. Chan burst into breathy laughter while Seungmin hastily pulled out his wand to clean the mess, flustered.

Seungmin stuck his wand back into his jacket pocket and sighed. “Jeongin said you couldn’t see it anymore when I asked him earlier,” Seungmin complained, brow furrowed. Chan snorted. “Well Jeongin lied.” Seungmin had taken up Jisung’s offer about the concealer, and after breakfast the two sat in the second floor boys bathroom on the sink counter with Jisung dabbing concealer (from a tube he’d stolen from Minho) on the Ravenclaw’s neck in attempt to cover the purple mark.

“Don’t worry too much about it, hickeys are hickeys,” Chan said offhandedly. “Once I had to go to a family reunion, you remember how I went to Seoul last summer, and I had way too many on my neck to hide, so I just wore a high collared shirt and hoped for the best. A few cousins and an Auntie cracked some jokes but mostly everyone just ignored me. It always seems worse than it is.” He finished with a signature Chan-chuckle and gulped at his cooled coffee.

Seungmin laughed along. “Did you have a girlfriend over the summer or something?” He asked, curiously. As far as he knew, Chan never had a girlfriend and never really talked about any girls he might’ve been crushing on, not even the ones Seungmin and Felix liked to speculate he would look good with. Chan paused, frozen in thought for a moment. Outside, a group of friends laughed loudly enough for the bright sound to float inside. “Seungmin-ssi, you know how Minho was also visiting family in Seoul last summer, right?” Seungmin gulped. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he nodded.

The older laughed nervously. “The night before, Minho and I went out with some of his friends to karaoke and drank a decent amount of soju because, you know, sober karaoke is just not as fun.” Seungmin’s eyes widened with every word. “We ended up being just us two later on, and I let it slip that I’d been sort of crushing on him for a few years, and we hooked up.”

Seungmin’s jaw fell slack. “M-Minho-Hyung? _Our_ Minho? You like him?” He stuttered. Chan didn’t look as embarrassed as he could’ve in the situation. “Liked. Past tense,” he emphasized. “I liked him for a while, never as a super serious crush, but I thought he was cool and that he looked good and I was always a little flustered when we spoke.”

“So… You’re gay?” Seungmin asked, not sure how to word it. Chan shrugged. “Dunno. Still figuring it out. You had no idea, I take it.” Seungmin shook his head. “What happened with you two? Is it awkward now? What about Jisung?” The younger strung together. Chan shifted his eyes out the window, elbows on the wooden table. “We talked about it a few days later and mutually agreed to not pursue anything. No animosity or awkwardness at all, I forget about it sometimes. And Minho says he told Jisung and he didn’t care.”

Seungmin swirled his mug, the half-drunk coffee sloshing up to the rim but not spilling. “I wish it was that easy for me,” he said, sighing. Chan made an amused exhale through his nose. “Your case is different. Both of you have strong mutual feelings but don’t know how to pursue them, and get stuck at a brick wall whenever you get more serious. One of you have to take the leap. There was no leap for me and Minho, but you two are a different story.”

“That’s what Jisung told me, that I should ‘go for it’”

Chan nodded. “He’s right. There’s a phrase my Mum really likes, ‘blessings wait for you’, it resonates with me. There are good things for all of us, things that are awaiting us. Wonderful things we’ll all reach eventually if we endure.” He looked Seungmin in the eye.

“I think Hyunjin’s one of your blessings.”

-

“I think I’m gonna go up to the tower.”

Changbin looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t it a little cold for stargazing?” Seungmin shrugged. “I don’t care, I just want to be up there.”

Changbin nodded and looked back at what could’ve possibly been his fifth novel of the school year. The two were being offensively Ravenclaw-like and reading together late at night, sat side by side.

Seungmin closed his hardcover book on the history of magical medical practice Woojin had lent him before the winter break, and placed it on the edge of the table, then picked up his phone as he stood up. Changbin cleared his throat a little awkwardly.

“What’s up?” Seungmin mumbled as he started making his way over to the stairs leading to the bedrooms. “Are you.. doing alright?” Changbin asked, gently, not looking at him. Seungmin stopped for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m good,” He replied. He saw the black hair of Changbin’s head bounce in a slight nod. “Okay, just checking in,” the older Ravenclaw finished. Seungmin stayed paused for a second more before he walked back towards the couch where his housemate was sat, and stopped behind him. He leaned down slightly and wrapped his arms around him in a gentle hug. He pulled away before Changbin could really react, but all he said to the older boy’s surprised expression was a small “thank you,” before he rushed up into his room to grab his jacket and make his way out of Ravenclaw tower.

The stars were especially visible that night, and despite Changbin’s warning, it wasn’t too cold. Seungmin had wrapped the thick red scarf that Jisung gave him for Christmas around his neck, and sat, hugging his knees, by the heating unit on the observation deck. He began to count all the constellations he could see on his fingers, and had only reached four before he jumped slightly at the sound of a door opening behind him.

Hyunjin poked his head out of the tower, slightly illuminated by the dim light affixed to the side of the stone wall, and smiled when he saw Seungmin sat there, as if he found what he was looking for.

“Hey.” His smile and voice were warm enough to cut through the cool air, and it made Seungmin’s stomach lurch.

“Hey.”

“Jisung knocked on my door and mentioned you’d probably be up here.” Hyunjin paused, then scrunched his nose. “He actually advised that I didn’t tell you that, and that I should make it sound like my own idea. He thought you’d like that. Oops,” the other boy giggled a little awkwardly. Seungmin told himself to either smack or kiss Jisung later for playing Cupid, he had to decide which later.

“I don’t care, what’s more important is that you’re up here with me.” Seungmin breathed in shakily. He was trying to be bold, as bold as Hyunjin. Fighting fire with fire.

Hyunjin smiled that stupidly cute and crooked smile Seungmin was so utterly in love with. “Then I’m going to come sit with you,” he announced, approaching the warmish stone ground of the deck Seungmin was sat on. He plopped down, clearly making sure their bodies were as close as they could be without touching.

It was silent, like both of them wanted to say something but they just didn’t know what. “Hmmm,” Hyunjin’s voice hummed melodically, like he wanted to say something but he just didn’t know what, or how. After a moment he spoke.

“Which constellation do I remind you most of?” Hyunjin asked suddenly, head turning to Seungmin’s, who was staring up at the clear sky. Seungmin tried not to gay panic, confidence still brewing from Jisung and Chan’s words.

He was going to go for it.

“Serpens, the snake. It’s that one,” Seungmin pointed into the sky to show him, finger tracing the wavy line of stars. Hyunjin nodded and looked at him with soft curious eyes. “Why?”

Seungmin took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Because one time I was up here earlier this year, with Jisung, it was the brightest one in the sky.” Hyunjin tilted his head, messy black bangs shifting in front of his eyes as they always did. “And what does that have to do with me?”

Seungmin kept looking him in the eyes. “Well, you’re a Slytherin.” He leaned forward a little bit, and lifted a hand to Hyunjin’s face to push his bangs out of his eyes, the other boy’s eyes widening at his directness. “But mainly because that night I was talking about you.”

“About me,” Hyunjin repeated, mumbling.

“Because it was when I began to realize I was falling in love with you.”

Hyunjin’s lips parted slightly, and Seungmin wanted to kiss him.

“I’ve fallen in love with you too, you know.”

Seungmin swallowed, looking down at his feet, then back at the other boy, who was looking at him with swirling eyes. It made him flustered.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like... I don’t know.”

“Like you have stars in your eyes? Because you do. I can see them reflected, sprinkled in your iris. It’s so fucking pretty. You’re so fucking pretty.” Hyunjin mumbled at the speed of light.

Seungmin didn’t know what to say. His tongue was tied almost as much as his stomach was, and he felt so warm and effusive that he couldn’t feel the cold. His eyes glided over Hyunjin’s entire being. His puffy white coat, his cross necklace that hiked up to the base of his throat, and his enchanting eyes Seungmin had tripped and fallen into long ago.

Seungmin didn’t know what to say to Hyunjin, so he kissed him. Their lips fit together perfectly just as they had before, Hyunjin knowing just how to swipe his tongue briefly and sexily into Seungmin’s mouth, and Seungmin knowing how to bite Hyunjin’s bottom lip to make his breath catch.

They parted, quickly but slowly, both of them keeping their eyes closed for a few moments after to try to ground themselves. When Seungmin opened his eyes, he saw Hyunjin looking up at the dark sky.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve been so confused.” Hyunjin didn’t have to elaborate further than that. Seungmin grabbed the Slytherin’s somehow warm hand. “I know. Me too.” Their fingers clumsily moved to lace together.

Hyunjin tore his eyes away from the expanse. He looked at Seungmin with a serious expression. “Let’s stop overthinking. We want each other, right?”

Seungmin nodded.

Hyunjin started again. “I can’t stop thinking that I keep hurting you. I lie awake at night-“

Seungmin knew it was cheesy, but he tangled his fingers into back of Hyunjin’s soft hair and pulled their faces together again to cut him off, into another one of the soft kisses that Seungmin endlessly dreamed about.

When they parted, their faces stayed close. “Ok.” Hyunjin said, simply, as if he understood exactly what Seungmin was trying to say.

They continued in a comfortable silence, Hyunjin’s thumb running circles on the back of Seungmin’s hand.

“This year has been like a romantic novel,” Hyunjin thought out loud. “Or a romcom,” Seungmin added and laughed quietly in agreement. Hyunjin glanced over at him and smirked, raising an eyebrow. “A pg-13 romcom.” Seungmin’s breath got caught and he told himself that, if he was really going to date Hwang Hyunjin, he couldn’t get flustered over everything he did, no matter how hard he made it.

Hyunjin broke into a grin out of nowhere. “What’s up?” Seungmin whispered, unable to hold back a smile. “Nothing. I just can’t believe you’re mine.”

Hyunjin moved to lay his head onto Seungmin’s lap, not caring that the ground was cold, or that the wind was picking up a little. Seungmin stroked Hyunjin’s hair, and bent down to plant a gentle kiss on the top of his head.

They lost track of time, sitting like that. Seungmin looked out at the stars he knew so well, obscured only by warm puffs of breath.

His own blessing, a fallen star, was wrapped tightly in his arms at last.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the start of the new year brings the end of this fic that’s grown to mean so much to me! it was ambitious to choose a chaptered fic to be my first fic to write, so i went from updating once a week to having two month breaks. but thank you for being so patient and still loving this story and this borrowed universe i tried to make my own with the boys. i loved writing about them and projecting parts of myself into it.
> 
> i cant wait to write more for skz, they mean a lot to me.
> 
> comments make my day, please tell me what you think!! (also, since I've been working on this for so long I think I'm going to reread the whole thing, feel free to join me, I don't think it was too bad tbh.)
> 
> happy new year, and as always, come say hi on twitter (@cosmichhj) or leave me [a cc!](https://curiouscat.me/neosuhh)


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